Slayer: The Chimera Tales
by Filing Sloth
Summary: How does an ageless chimera deal with a world that has left him behind? Sequel to Slayers: Revival. COMPLETE
1. Lost love and winter days

Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers.  
  
Notes: Hello and welcome to what is the second in what I hope will end up being a three story arc beginning with "Slayers: Revival". Needless to say, there are some things in this story that reference characters and events in the previous story, but you should be able to get along without reading the original if you want. Well, I'll just get out of your way and let you read now. . .  
  
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The forest was unbearably cold on this January day. The wind howled through the bare trees. There had been a gentle snowfall all morning. Now, it was quickly becoming a very dangerous blizzard. There was a loud crack as a tree finally gave up on its struggle for survival. It plummeted to the forest floor with a thunderous crash barely missing the form of a man lying in the snow.  
  
The chimera paid it no heed. Indeed, one might have assumed that he was dead from exposure given the bluish tint of his flesh. However, a faint puff of steam every few seconds betrayed his breathing and he would occasionally blink the snow out of his eyes.  
  
Zelgadis had been sitting patiently for the past several hours. The storm didn't bother him. He felt as warm as he had ever been, his body totally immune to the effects of exposure. He could have walked for weeks through the storm and then through the Desert of Destruction immediately after. He no longer ate or drank at all. He hadn't had a cup of tea for twenty years now.  
  
Ironically enough though, Zelgadis was out in the blizzard in search of food. Amelia waited for him back at the cabin that had been their home since they had grown tired of traveling. How very long ago that had been. Twenty-four years, if he wasn't mistaken. And he never was.  
  
Zelgadis's thoughts turned to Amelia and he frowned. She had become ill lately. He thought that their time together might be drawing to an end. It shouldn't have come as a surprise to him. He was well aware that he would far outlive her. Thousands of years longer than her, in fact. It didn't make her failing health any easier to accept though.  
  
Zelgadis brushed his hair out of his face and sighed. "Time catches up to us all." His eyes narrowed as he saw what he was looking for. "That was even quicker than usual." He shook his head, throwing off a fresh layer of powder.  
  
A small brown rabbit cautiously poked its head out of a bank of snow, sniffing the wind in a vain attempt to sense any danger. It didn't even get a chance to move before a drift of snow seemed to explode as the chimera pounced.  
  
Zelgadis quickly snatched the hare up and snapped its neck with a quick twist. He nodded, satisfied with the morning's work. He could have used a spell to spook the rabbit hours ago, but he enjoyed hunting this way. There was something primal in taking prey barehanded. Besides, it gave him a chance to think.  
  
Lately, Zelgadis found himself thinking about the past. The adventures he had shared with Lina and Gourry, both gone long before their time.  
  
Gourry had died at the hands of the demon priest Xellos. Zelgadis had been indirectly responsible for the swordsman's death as well, but Lina's words had freed him from a large amount of the guilt he had felt. Oh, he still regretted his part in the affair, but it didn't eat at him the way it used to.  
  
Zelgadis wondered briefly at Xellos's fate. During the burning of Sairaag when they had been fighting for their lives against Prince Edward, Xellos had disappeared never to be seen again. He assumed that the demon had fallen in battle against Lina, but it hadn't been discussed. Her life had ended shortly after Xellos's disappearance.  
  
The Lord of Nightmares herself had plucked Lina from this world thirty- seven years ago. Zelgadis chuckled as he walked through the forest. Lina couldn't have asked for a more dramatic death. In a way, he thought it was rather fitting. A legendary end for a legendary sorceress. He wondered if she would have been happy with that.  
  
Zelgadis paused briefly to get his bearings. He was deep in the forest and the snowstorm made it impossible to see more than a few feet in any direction. Glancing around at the trees, he nodded. "This way." He continued on, fighting his way through drifts of snow that reached his hips. He could be blind and he would be able to find his way home. Living here for so long, he knew every tree and stone in the forest surrounding the cabin.  
  
Satisfied that he was on course, Zelgadis returned to the comfort of his memories. Sylphiel the shrine maiden. After they had parted ways over sixty years ago, he and the others had never heard from her again. Where was she now? Dead most likely. Everyone was dead, or dying in Amelia's case.  
  
Amelia was Zelgadis's last link to his past. Oh, it was true that he had made other friends over the years. Open minded people who had the patience to see past his rocky exterior and into his equally stony heart. He chuckled a bit as his continued.  
  
Emily and Phillionel II were two such people. They were good friends, always happy to see Zelgadis whenever he and Amelia had happened to visit Seyruun. However, it wasn't the same with them. They were the children of his lost friends. And now they had their own children and grandchildren as well.  
  
Zelgadis stopped again and looked at the cabin sitting atop a small hill. It was modest, but neither he nor Amelia really cared for anything terribly fancy. He had built it for the two of them and that been enough to make it home for Amelia.  
  
The door creaked loudly as it opened and Amelia felt a blast of wintry air on her face. She looked up from her knitting with a smile on her face. "Is that you Zel?" She coughed for a few moments.  
  
Zelgadis quickly closed the door and stood silently for a moment. He gazed at Amelia, trying to determine what her condition was today.  
  
Amelia was sitting in a rocking chair by the fireplace holding the beginnings of a quilt in her thin hands. Her once dark and beautiful hair had become thin and gray with the passage of time. Her face was pale and heavily wrinkled, but still beautiful in a way. Her smile helped that a lot. Even now, in the twilight of her life, very little could get her down. Her eyes were still the blue that Zelgadis loved, but now they were dim. She had gone blind a few years ago.  
  
Smiling sadly, Zelgadis decided that her condition was still the same. That wasn't good. She had been sick for several weeks now. He put the rabbit on the table by a cooking pot and walked over to Amelia. He knelt beside her chair and laid his head in her lap.  
  
Amelia sighed happily and lovingly ran her fingers over the familiar terrain of Zelgadis's face. She was careful to avoid the sharp points of his wiry hair. She had cut herself on his hair before and he hadn't let her touch him for a month. She knew that it was times like that when he really hated what he was.  
  
"I knew it was you." She laughed for a moment before it degenerated into a series of coughs. "I could feel the raw enthusiasm when you came in."  
  
Zelgadis forced a chuckle. "Why do I put up with your abuse?" He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the sound of Amelia's labored breathing. He had been wrong about her. She was getting worse, but he knew that she was trying to hide it from him.  
  
Amelia smiled. "Well, why should you have all the fun? It's only fair that someone else gets a turn torturing you, right?"  
  
Zelgadis snorted. "I suppose so." He took her hand and kissed it before standing and walking over to the table.  
  
"How was hunting today?"  
  
Zelgadis forced some mirth into his voice. "That's not what you really want to ask is it? What you really mean to say is, 'What is on the menu tonight at the Greywords Café?' Right?"  
  
Amelia chuckled. "I guess you got me. So what are we having?"  
  
Zelgadis began to clean the rabbit with a skill born from years of practice. "My lady, tonight you will be dining on the specialty of the house."  
  
Amelia grinned. "Do you mean. . ?"  
  
"Of course! Rabbit stew." He dumped the meat into a pot of water and set it over the fire. He stirred it, occasionally adding a pinch of salt or some assorted herbs from the forest. Although he couldn't taste anything, his sense of smell was amazingly acute. He knew exactly what the stew needed and added ingredients accordingly.  
  
Amelia sniffed the air. "It smells great Zel."  
  
Zelgadis pulled the pot off the fire and set it on the table. "But of course, my lady. Only the best for the princess of the castle." He ladled some of the stew into a small bowl and carried it over to Amelia. "Careful. It's still hot."  
  
Amelia nodded and carefully took the bowl. "You don't have to worry about me Zel. I'm not made of glass you know." She blew on the stew for a moment before taking a sip.  
  
"I know." Zelgadis pulled a chair over and sat in front of Amelia. "But, if I'm not worrying about you than I'm not happy you know."  
  
Amelia frowned. "I know Zel." She continued to eat in silence for a moment before sighing. "Zel?"  
  
Zelgadis cringed a bit. There was something in her voice that he didn't want to hear. "Yes?"  
  
Amelia looked as though she was struggling to find the right words. She whispered, "What. . . what will you do. . . after I'm gone?"  
  
Zelgadis looked down and was surprised to see his hands shaking. He couldn't understand why Amelia's question was such a shock for him. She wasn't stupid. She was probably coping with the truth better than he was. He sighed and shook his head sadly.  
  
Amelia frowned. "Zel, please talk to me." Her voice quivered a little. "I'm scared of dying alone."  
  
Zelgadis moved his chair over beside Amelia's. He hugged her delicately. "You're not alone."  
  
Amelia closed her eyes and leaned against Zelgadis. "That's how it feels sometimes. You know that I'm sick." She felt him jump a little when she said that. "And you try to take care of me." She reached up to caress his face. "I appreciate that. But, sometimes I just want to talk about it." She heard him sigh.  
  
"Alright."  
  
Amelia smiled. "Thanks. I know it's hard for you. But, I really appreciate it." She paused before continuing. "Do you know what scares me the most about dying?"  
  
"No." A moment's hesitation. "What?"  
  
"You."  
  
Zelgadis sounded a little surprised. "Me?"  
  
"I worry about what you'll do when I'm gone." A tear ran down Amelia's cheek. "I worry about you being alone."  
  
Zelgadis kissed Amelia's forehead. "You never think of yourself do you?"  
  
Amelia smiled. "I try not to. You worry about me more than enough for both of us." Her smile faded. "Zel, will you promise me something?"  
  
"Anything."  
  
Amelia turned to Zelgadis and looked at him with her blind eyes. "Promise me that you won't throw your life away. Make it count for something."  
  
Zelgadis looked at her for a moment. "I promise."  
  
Amelia slumped a little and sighed happily. It felt as if a great weight had suddenly been lifted from her shoulders. "I'm glad." Several coughs wracked her body and she nodded towards the bed. "Help me up please. I'm very tired."  
  
Zelgadis gingerly helped Amelia to her feet and led her over to the bed in the corner of the room. After he made sure that she was comfortable he pulled his chair over to the bed and sat next to her.  
  
Amelia coughed again and sighed. "You won't forget your promise will you? Make your life count."  
  
Zelgadis took her hand and squeezed it softly. "I will."  
  
Amelia nodded and slipped into an uncomfortable slumber.  
  
Zelgadis held her hand through the night. Somehow, he knew what was coming and when Amelia stopped breathing in the early hours before dawn he wasn't surprised. In a way, by giving his promise he had also given her permission to leave. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Goodbye Amelia."  
  
By the time the sun had come over the hills, Zelgadis was shoveling the last bit of dirt into a grave. He cast the shovel aside and knelt on the freshly turned earth. "Amelia." He opened and shut his mouth a few times, struggling to find the right words to say goodbye. "I'll never forget you. You gave my life meaning. Thank you." He stood and turned away from the grave. Glancing over his shoulder one last time, Zelgadis disappeared into the forest.  
  
And the months passed. . .  
  
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Next Chapter: The chimera wanders and comes across an old acquaintance.  
  
Notes: I hope that everyone enjoyed the first chapter of the story. I will be the first to admit that the story doesn't really capture the feel of "Slayers", but I hope you enjoyed it anyways. I was reluctant to write this at first, because it doesn't have any humor or very much action or adventure, both of which are huge components of the Slayers series. But, it's an important part of the overall "Revival" story, so it needs to be told.  
  
I'd like to offer a very special thanks to my beta reader / random idea person, Chaos Anita. Without her help, this story might not have ever seen the light of day. Thanks a bunch!!!  
  
Well, thanks for reading and I hope that you'll stick with the rest of the story. 


	2. Dark reunion

Crickets chirped in the darkness before dawn. The faint smell of pine hung in the air. A dense layer of fog, several feet deep, coated the forest floor. Although the land was still under the cover of darkness, it was obvious to anyone that it was going to be a miserable summer day. It was already humid and it was becoming warmer by the minute.  
  
Zelgadis traveled on, oblivious to trivial things such as day or night. His damp clothes clung to his body, saturated with moisture from his travel through the fog bank. He had been traveling nonstop for several days and wasn't even beginning to tire.  
  
A small branch snagged Zelgadis's cloak ripping a large gash in it. It wasn't the first. His clothes weren't nearly as resilient as the chimera himself and the constant travel had taken their toll. His formerly neat appearance had given way to something that looked more like a beggar than a sorcerer. His sleeves were tattered and his cloak exposed almost as much as it concealed. The only exception was his hood and mask. He still took care of those obsessively. They were his shield against the rest of humanity.  
  
Even after all this time, Zelgadis still loathed other people's reaction to him. With his enhanced senses, he never missed the frightened stares. No whispered insult escaped his ears. He would have expected the insults to roll off his back at this point. He had dealt with them for most of his life. Ironically enough though, the stony chimera actually had a pretty thin skin when it came to remarks about his appearance.  
  
Zelgadis came to a clearing atop a hill. Pausing for a moment, he looked around lost in his memories. A couple miles away, a huge crater loomed. He, Lina, and the others had fought for their lives against the demons Kanzul and Mizenda there long ago.  
  
Turning his head slightly, Zelgadis gasped at what he saw next. The normally white walls of Seyruun were the covered in blood. He shook his head and looked again. It was only a trick of the light. The sun had just come over the horizon momentarily casting a crimson glow upon the city. It was nothing more than that.  
  
Breathing a sigh of relief, the chimera tried to shake the unsettling image out of his head. He started down the hill towards the city gates. With any luck, he would be there within a couple hours.  
  
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Zelgadis looked around as he walked through the crowded streets of the city. So much had changed since he and Amelia had last visited. On one street corner was an ice cream shop where there had been a tavern before. A bookstore on the next street that he remembered frequenting was now boarded up.  
  
"Mommy, what's that?"  
  
Zelgadis turned to see a little blond haired girl, who looked to be about five years old pointing at him.  
  
The little girl's mother glanced nervously at the chimera before grabbing the girl's hand and pulling her away from him into the anonymity of the crowd.  
  
Zelgadis shook his head and sighed. "It never changes." He looked around at all the faces around him. Many of them were staring at him and whispering to one another. He noted that although the rest of the street was crowded, nobody had brushed up against him. As usual, everyone was trying to stay as far away from him as possible. He snarled at the people and muttered under his breath. "Bastards." Glancing around, he spotted the mouth of a dark alley a few feet away. Sparing the crowd one last venomous glare, he moved into the darkness, away from the stares and insults. The smell of cheap alcohol and vomit immediately assaulted him.  
  
"Can you spare a coin for an old man?"  
  
Zelgadis sighed as he sat down and leaned against the wall. "Sure, whatever." He reached into his pocket and tossed a couple of silvers to the voice in the darkness. He briefly heard the man scrambling in the darkness trying to find the coins.  
  
"Thank you sir!" Two thin hands reached out of the darkness and grabbed Zelgadis's arm. "You're very generous." A moment of silence passed as the old man felt the unyielding nature of Zelgadis's flesh. "What?" The hands began to squeeze the chimera's arm.  
  
Zelgadis could smell the old man's breath. He felt a little ill. "Not a problem." He quickly removed the bum's hands from his sleeve. "Don't touch me, okay?"  
  
Silence answer Zelgadis. Then he heard an evil chuckle. "It's you."  
  
Zelgadis's eyes widened. Something was familiar about that laugh. "Old man?" He struggled to make out the features of the figure in the darkness. It was no use though. The sun hadn't risen high enough to illuminate the alley and all he could make out was a thin form.  
  
The old man laughed out loud and clapped. "It's you! Zelgadis Greywords!" He quickly scampered out of the darkness on all fours like some kind of oversized rat.  
  
Zelgadis involuntarily backed away from the man. There was something horribly familiar about him. He stared at the bum, struggling to identify him.  
  
The bum looked to be in his seventies and was impossibly thin. He was little more than a skeleton with skin stretched over it. His fingernails were incredibly long and resembled talons. He clothes were tattered to the point that rags would be a more accurate description for them. They were familiar though. The robes of a priest perhaps.  
  
Zelgadis whispered, "No". He looked at the man's face and his suspicions were confirmed.  
  
The bum's face was heavily wrinkled and covered with festering sores. He was smiling and Zelgadis noted with no small amount of distaste that he had only had three teeth left in his mouth. Wispy strands of white hair desperately clung to the top of his head. But the thing that seized the chimera's attention was his eyes. His eyes were full of cruelty and hatred. They were the color of amethyst and seemed to shine in the darkness.  
  
Zelgadis spat out a name. "Xellos?!"  
  
"You do remember!" Xellos cackled and danced happily around the alley.  
  
Zelgadis quickly stood and backed away from the former priest. He thought back to the old days when Xellos was always calm, collected, and one step ahead of everyone around him. He stared at the capering monstrosity. This. . . thing couldn't be Xellos. But, deep down, he knew it was. "What happened to you?"  
  
Xellos stopped dancing and blinked at Zelgadis. "You don't know? She didn't tell you?" He spied a large black rat rummaging through a pile of rubbish and grinned. Pouncing with frightening speed, he snatched up the rat and tried to chew through its hide with his pitiful teeth. He looked at Zelgadis, as if just remembering that he was there. "Where are my manners?" He ripped the rodent in half and offered the upper half to Zelgadis. "Want some?"  
  
Zelgadis shook his head mutely.  
  
Shrugging, Xellos went back to gumming his meal. Through mouthfuls of rodent, he continued to speak. "Suit yourself. It's nice to have a visitor. Nobody comes down here much anymore." He grinned at Zelgadis with the rat's tail hanging out of the corner of his mouth. "I can't imagine why."  
  
Zelgadis fought through the wave of nausea and took a step towards Xellos.  
  
Xellos squealed and scampered behind a large pile of garbage. "Don't hurt me!"  
  
"You have nothing to fear from me. I only want to ask you some questions." Zelgadis slowly advanced on the cowering Xellos.  
  
Xellos looked up at Zelgadis nervously. "You're not going to kill me? Why not? I thought you hated me."  
  
"I did hate you, but. . ." Zelgadis was surprised to note that he didn't hate Xellos. Despite everything that the trickster priest had done, Zelgadis couldn't conjure up any feeling other than pity for the creature before him. ". . .I don't anymore."  
  
Xellos eyed him suspiciously. "You said you have questions?"  
  
Zelgadis nodded and knelt down next to Xellos. He spoke quietly. "How did this happen?"  
  
Xellos rolled his eyes. "I told you. She did this to me!"  
  
Zelgadis struggled to keep his temper in check. "Who did this?"  
  
"Lina Inverse!" Xellos's voice was full of awe. "Her cruelty puts even the greatest demon to shame." He grinned. "It was a humbling experience for me you know. Cruelty was my life and a mere human outperforms me. I was impressed."  
  
"You speak as if you like what she did to you."  
  
Xellos shook his head violently. A few more strands of hair were shaken loose from his skull. "No! It's more like one artist admiring another's work. And this. . ." He gestured to his body. ". . .is a masterpiece." He cackled again before staring at Zelgadis. "And what about you? Did you finally manage to shake off that annoying princess?" He saw the chimera jump a bit and chuckled. "She's dead isn't she? Did she suffer?" He advanced on the chimera in anticipation.  
  
Zelgadis squeezed his eyes shut and struggled to block out Xellos's voice.  
  
"Were you happy to be rid of her?" Xellos snickered.  
  
Zelgadis eyes flew open and he backhanded Xellos, knocking another of the priest's teeth out. He quickly stood and backed away from him. "Shut up! Don't you dare talk about Amelia!"  
  
Xellos grinned at Zelgadis and licked the blood off his lips. His voice had a tone of mock sympathy. "Did I touch a sore spot?"  
  
Zelgadis hadn't hated Amelia. He was sure of it. At the end, it had been hard, but he had never resented her had he? She was everything to him. Damn this demon for making him question his love for Amelia. He glared at the grinning Xellos coldly. "I see you haven't lost your touch for causing misery."  
  
Xellos smirked. "I try." He gestured to a relatively clean spot next to himself. "Sit?"  
  
Zelgadis sighed and knelt down next to Xellos again. He knew that he should leave, but as much as he hated to admit it, the trickster priest was another part of his past. He shuddered when he realized that he was actually relieved to see this pathetic creature again.  
  
Xellos nodded happily. "So, you've finally accepted what you are."  
  
"And what's that?"  
  
The priest rolled his eyes at Zelgadis and sighed. "You're as dense as ever. You're a monster." He smiled and his voice filled with pride. "Just like me."  
  
Zelgadis shook his head and snorted. "You're no monster, Xellos. You're a wretched old man with no purpose."  
  
Xellos got a faraway look in his eyes. "I do have a purpose. I am Xellos, loyal servant of Beastmaster Zelas. Charged with the mission of bringing about the destruction of this world. Dragons tremble at the mention of my name." He glanced at Zelgadis. "Not many dragons left, are there?"  
  
Zelgadis shook his head. "No, I suppose not."  
  
With the loss of the Golden Dragons sixty-five years ago, the less powerful and intelligent of the creatures had become more wild and clashed with humans. Despite their superior power, many dragons had died due to the superior numbers and ingenuity of humanity. Now they were almost extinct.  
  
Xellos nodded. "Obnoxious creatures." He turned away from Zelgadis and began to rummage through some garbage.  
  
Zelgadis looked at him warily. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Making your bed of course." Xellos scattered a layer of rubbish on the alley floor. "You can't very well sleep on the cobblestones can you?"  
  
Zelgadis stood and backed away from Xellos. "What are you talking about? I'm not staying here."  
  
Xellos stopped and turned to Zelgadis. "Why not? Nobody wants you out there. Monsters like us belong in the shadows."  
  
"I'm not a monster, Xellos."  
  
Xellos sniggered evilly. "But you certainly look like a monster."  
  
Zelgadis looked down at himself in horror. For the first time in a long while, he noticed his rough appearance. His torn cloak was covered in the grime of the alley. He glanced at Xellos's rags and realized that they looked similar to his own pathetic clothes. He started to back away from the priest.  
  
Xellos crawled after Zelgadis like a cat stalking a mouse. "My, my. You're still clinging to the foolish notion that you're human, aren't you? Are you going to run away now that you're hearing the truth?" He cocked his head as if just recalling something. "Why'd you come down here anyway? Nobody comes down here anymore. . ." He grinned as he continued to advance on the chimera.  
  
Zelgadis continued backing away. He stammered an answer. "I. . . I was taking a shortcut and took a wrong turn." He cursed himself for trying such a stupid lie. A six year old wouldn't have believed him.  
  
Xellos's mocking laughter pierced the air. "You came down here to get away from their stares, didn't you? Monsters are shunned by humanity. So are you." He crawled closer to Zelgadis, his eyes full of evil mirth. "Monsters are hideous. So are you."  
  
Zelgadis slipped on a wet patch of ground and fell onto his back. His head hit the ground and he saw stars for a moment.  
  
In an instant, Xellos was on top of him. The chimera and the priest were nose to nose as Xellos spoke. "Monsters are utterly evil."  
  
Zelgadis whispered, "I'm not evil." He shoved Xellos away from him and quickly stood. He snarled at the priest. "Stop trying to confuse me with your lies!"  
  
Xellos glared at Zelgadis. He hissed, "I have never lied and have no intention of starting now." His expression brightened. "The truth is so much more fun!"  
  
Zelgadis shook his head. "I'm not evil."  
  
Xellos grinned and glanced around the alley. "Is there an echo in here? I could have sworn that I heard you say that before. But keep telling yourself that, and I'm sure you'll be able to believe it." His gaze settled on Zelgadis again. "I know! Why don't we ask the residents of Cruso if they think you're evil?"  
  
Zelgadis gasped.  
  
Xellos continued. "Oh, that's right! They're all dead. Thanks to you, Zelgadis. Did you know that they never rebuilt the village? No one left to do it. I must say, you are very efficient when it comes to killing." He clapped his hands. "So very monstrous."  
  
Zelgadis shook his head, trying to block out the memories of the dead and dying. "You killed those people! Not me."  
  
Xellos smirked. "I killed one person that day. You created the beasts that did most of the killing." He backed away into the darkness and sighed. "But, go on living your little lie, if that's what makes you happy."  
  
Zelgadis leaned against the wall. It had been a mistake to listen to the demon. He should have expected something like this to happen. He looked at Xellos. "What about you? Are you happy with what you are now?"  
  
Xellos thought for a moment. "I suppose it makes no real difference. I still have a purpose. I spread misery wherever I can. Which is more than you can say isn't it? You're in Seyruun to see Lina's brat and wallow in the past for another couple years. And what will you do after she dies? You'll run off somewhere else to find another memory. You're the one who has no purpose."  
  
Zelgadis closed his eyes and thought of Amelia's words.  
  
"Promise me that you won't throw your life away. Make it count for something."  
  
Zelgadis smiled and glanced at Xellos. "I do have a purpose, Xellos."  
  
Xellos arched an eyebrow. "Oh? Do tell?"  
  
"I'll tell you when I find it." Zelgadis turned away from Xellos and walked into the light of the street. He tried to ignore the mocking laughter coming from the shadows behind him.  
  
And the hours passed. . .  
  
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Next Chapter: A royal reunion.  
  
Notes: Oh boy. Is anyone enjoying this? It seems really dark to me. I'm going to try to lighten it up slightly in the next chapter, but the rest of the story isn't going to be sunshine and happiness.  
  
I hope nobody thought Xellos was terribly OOC here. Seeing as he was stripped of his mazoku powers, he's become somewhat useless. That coupled with the loss of his connection to the astral plane and his creator, to say nothing of decades of isolation, *shrugs* I figured that would be just about enough to push anyone off the deep end.  
  
On to the reviews!  
  
CT, I see you've stuck around for the second story! *cheers* I promise the rest of the story won't all be sad. We'll see a little happiness sooner or later.  
  
Hikari, I'm glad you liked the Z/A bit. I enjoyed writing it. Well, maybe enjoyed is the wrong word. It felt right to write it. And yes, the story starts out 37 years later. That would put Zel *counts on his fingers* somewhere in his mid eighties I guess. By the way, I wrote you an e-mail like you asked. Did you get it?  
  
Well, until next time! Thanks for reading! 


	3. Old friends rediscovered

Zelgadis sat on the ground in the shade of a building with his head in his arms. The chimera had been sitting motionless for several hours and the sun was beginning to set. Xellos's words from that morning still echoed in his mind. Mingled with that was Amelia's voice asking for his promise. Between the two of them, he felt as if he might go mad. He supposed that he should get moving if he wanted to reach the palace before dark, but somehow, seeing Phil and Emily didn't seem as important as it had that morning.  
  
Xellos's mocking voice came back to Zelgadis for the hundredth time that day. "You're in Seyruun to see Lina's brat and wallow in the past for another couple years."  
  
Zelgadis sighed. The priest had been right of course. Why was he here anyway? They didn't need to be burdened with his troubles and besides that, he didn't think he could stand the sadness of watching more of his friends growing old before his eyes. He nodded and stood. "Better just to move on." Glancing at the palace one last time, the chimera adjusted his hood and stepped out into the street, intending to find the quickest way out of town. He bumped into something hard and staggered back.  
  
"Careful there, friend!"  
  
Zelgadis was saved from an embarrassing fall when a strong hand steadied him. He glared up at the man and snarled. "Why don't you watch where you're going?" His eyes widened when he got a good look at the man.  
  
The man was almost a foot taller than Zelgadis and was fairly muscular. He looked like he was in his mid twenties and wore a sky blue outfit with a sword on his belt. He had a handsome face framed by long blond hair and light blue eyes. He was smiling warmly.  
  
"Gourry?! Is that you?" Zelgadis took a step towards the man, hardly daring to believe what his eyes were telling him.  
  
The man looked at Zelgadis quizzically. "Yeah, that's right. Do I know you?"  
  
Zelgadis flung back his hood, revealing his face. "Don't you remember me?" He thought for a moment. "Actually, I guess you probably wouldn't." He was pleasantly surprised to see a look of recognition dawn on Gourry's face.  
  
Gourry laughed. "Uncle Zel!" He squeezed Zelgadis in a monstrous bear hug, managing to make the chimera even bluer in the face than he was usually. "It's been so long!"  
  
Zelgadis struggled to comprehend what Gourry was saying. "Uncle Zel?" He gasped for breath as the realization hit him. This wasn't Gourry Gabriev. This was Gourry Seyruun, Phil and Emily's son. That insight wasn't going to do him much good if Gourry didn't loosen his grip soon. "Gourry?"  
  
Gourry looked at Zelgadis. "Yeah?"  
  
Zelgadis forced out a single word. "Air!"  
  
"Oh, sorry!" Gourry released his hold on Zelgadis, who promptly collapsed.  
  
Zelgadis grinned at Gourry, his depressing thoughts temporarily forgotten. "That's some grip you have!" He picked himself up off the ground and looked the man over. "And you've gotten so big since last time I saw you. You look just like your grandfather."  
  
Gourry chuckled and rolled his eyes. "That's what mom says. I don't know if it's supposed to be a compliment or an insult."  
  
"Gourry, why are you wasting time with a beggar?" A man dressed in a dark blue outfit with a black cloak stepped out of the crowd and stood next to Gourry. He glanced at Zelgadis distastefully.  
  
Zelgadis returned his glare. He spoke icily. "Hello, Christopher. I see you still haven't learned any manners."  
  
Standing next to Gourry, one wouldn't have guessed that Christopher was his younger brother. He was only as tall as Gourry's shoulders and wasn't nearly as handsome. He had cold blue eyes and short dark hair.  
  
Zelgadis had never really liked Christopher. Oh, he had loved him as much as any of his friends' children, but there was something dark about the boy. He had always been cold and somewhat aloof.  
  
Gourry grinned at his brother. "Beggar? You're kidding, right Chris?" He punched Christopher on the arm lightly, eliciting a glare from the younger man. He gestured to Zelgadis. "You remember Uncle Zel, don't you?"  
  
Christopher turned his cold glare back to Zelgadis. "Oh. Of course." He glanced at Zelgadis's ragged clothes distastefully. "Forgive the remark. Apparently, your wardrobe has seen better days."  
  
Gourry nodded. "Yeah. What happened to your clothes?" An excited look crossed his face. "You fought some bandits, didn't you? Or was it a monster? Or actually, I'll bet it was. . ."  
  
Zelgadis listened to Gourry with a grin on his face. Despite what had happened earlier in the day, he found that it was impossible to stay depressed in Gourry's company. The man's happiness and enthusiasm were infectious.  
  
Gourry thought for a moment. "Or, you know what? I'll bet you fought a dark lord. That's it, isn't it?"  
  
Zelgadis laughed out loud. He shook his head. "Gourry, slow down! Give me a second to answer!" Seeing that the younger man had stopped talking, he spoke. "I'm afraid nothing quite that exciting happened. I've actually had a pretty boring journey."  
  
Gourry shrugged. "It doesn't really matter what you did, Uncle Zel. I still want to hear all about it." He put an arm around Zelgadis's neck. "What do you say we go home and get some dinner? I'm starved."  
  
Zelgadis sighed. "Well actually, I was just passing through. I don't really have time to visit. Maybe next time, though?" He had decided that he didn't want to see Emily and Phil at all. If he were to visit them, he knew that he would end up staying for weeks. If he stayed for a couple weeks, they'd want him to stay for a couple months, and then a couple years. They would insist on it.  
  
Gourry frowned. "Passing through?' But, it's been so long. And mom and dad have missed you." He thought for a moment and grinned slyly. "You know, if mom found out that you were in town and didn't stop by for a visit, she'd probably kick your butt."  
  
Zelgadis forced a smile. "Yeah, you're probably right. I don't suppose you'd keep our meeting a secret, would you?"  
  
Gourry shook his head. "I couldn't do something like that. Mom would never forgive me if she found out."  
  
Damn it. Zelgadis gritted his teeth. Why did everything have to be so difficult? "Well, I guess I could stop by for a while. Only for dinner though, okay?"  
  
"You're traveling alone, I notice." Christopher snorted. "Did you abandon my grandmother somewhere?"  
  
Zelgadis frowned. "No, she passed away a little while ago." He found it immensely satisfying to see Christopher looking a little uncomfortable.  
  
Christopher coughed and mumbled a couple words of sympathy. "Sorry to hear it." He nodded towards the palace. "Shall we?"  
  
************************************************************************  
  
A couple of hours later, Zelgadis found himself sitting in the same study that he had met with Edward in thirty seven years ago.  
  
Christopher and Gourry had excused themselves after seeing that Zelgadis was comfortable. It turned out that they had just returned from a diplomatic mission and they were eager to get settled in and relax for a bit before dinner.  
  
Zelgadis hadn't minded the solitude. He wasn't the most social creature and he relished the opportunity to escape from Gourry's incessant questions about his travels. The truth of the matter was that he didn't really remember any specifics about his travels between Amelia's grave and Seyruun. It almost felt like he had been sleepwalking the entire way. Going to Seyruun just felt right. There was no real logic behind it.  
  
He sighed and shook his head. Better not to think about it. To take his mind off matters, he looked around the room. It was the same, but at the same time entirely different. Edward and Phil's tastes were worlds apart from each other. A much smaller and simpler table had replaced the ostentatious desk that had taken up a large portion of the room before. The walls, which had been covered by magical trinkets and artifacts, were now lined with bookcases.  
  
"Hmm." Zelgadis stood and walked over to the bookcase. It would be interesting to see if Phil had any new reading material for him to peruse while he waited. He ran down a list of magical tomes that Lina would have given her right arm to be able to read. He grinned as he reached one particular tome. "He didn't." Pulling the book from the shelf he realized that it was true. He read the title. "A Study of Astral Magic, by Phillionel il de Seyruun II." He opened the book and began to read. "You finally finished it, huh?"  
  
"That's right. I never forgot what you said."  
  
Zelgadis turned towards the door to see King Phillionel II enter the room. He tapped the cover of the book. "Finally made your mark in the sand, huh?"  
  
Phil chuckled. "A small mark at best." He embraced Zelgadis warmly before gesturing to a couple chairs in the corner of the room. He sat down with a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry you had to wait so long. You wouldn't believe the pressures of running a kingdom."  
  
Zelgadis nodded as he took a seat. "I can only imagine." He chuckled dryly. "And you needn't worry about making me wait. I have all the time in the world."  
  
Phil sighed and shook his head. "Oh, you're in one of those moods, huh? Gourry told me about my mother." He paused for a moment. "Was she happy at the end?"  
  
Zelgadis closed his eyes and remembered the sound of Amelia's coughing. Light at first, but deeper and more violent as her illness gradually claimed her. He remembered her telling him that she was scared of dying alone. He opened his eyes and looked at Phil. "I think she was."  
  
Phil smiled a little. "I'm glad." He was about to continue when he was interrupted by a crash outside the door.  
  
The muffled protests of a guard could be heard briefly. "Your Highness, please! The king is in an important meeting right now! If you'd just wait a moment. . ."  
  
Another very familiar voice cut the protesting guard off. "I've waited seven years and I'm not going to wait another moment! Now get out of the way before I kick your butt!"  
  
Phil grinned at Zelgadis. "Looks like you're in for it now. She sounds pretty mad. I'd help, but. . ." He shrugged. ". . .better you than me."  
  
Zelgadis muttered, "Thanks a lot." He quickly glanced around the room. There had to be something to bar the door with. He realized that it was pretty hopeless when the door slammed open to reveal a very irate Emily. He tried to stave off his impending doom with what he hoped was an incredibly charming smile. "Hello Emily."  
  
Emily stomped across the room and grabbed the front of Zelgadis's cloak. "Don't you 'Hello Emily' me!" She shook the chimera until he was seeing stars. "What's the big idea of not visiting for so long?" She shoved him and brushed away a tear. "I missed you, you big jerk!"  
  
Phil was struggling to conceal his amusement at the situation. He failed miserably and his laughter brought Emily's ire down on his head as well.  
  
"You find something amusing, Phil?" Emily was eyeing her husband dangerously.  
  
Phil put his hands up defensively. "No, love. Not at all." He snickered. "Well, yes." He nodded at Zelgadis. "Maybe that's why he doesn't visit more often." He started laughing again.  
  
Emily looked down at the chimera. He was flat on his back after she had shoved his chair over. She quickly moved over to help him up. "Oh, I'm sorry Zel!"  
  
Zelgadis rubbed the back of his head as Emily helped him to his feet. "I see you're as stubborn as ever." He grinned. "Even Lina never treated me like this."  
  
Emily smirked and rolled up her sleeves. "You're not trying to start a fight are you?"  
  
Zelgadis quickly shook his head. "Not at all. I'm not suicidal you know." He looked at her for a moment. She looked so much like Lina it was frightening. He opened his arms cautiously. "Sorry I've been gone so long."  
  
Emily glared at Zelgadis for a moment before hugging him. "It's alright. I'm sure you had your reasons." She smiled at him. "Just don't be a stranger, okay? We all missed you a bunch." She looked him over, noticing for the first time that his clothes were in pretty shabby shape. "What happened to you?" Before he could answer, she shook her head. "Never mind, I'll have a room made up for you so you can get cleaned up before dinner."  
  
Zelgadis opened his mouth to protest.  
  
Emily's glare cut Zelgadis off before he could start. "And don't you even try to tell me that you're leaving." She poked him in the chest as she spoke. "I'll have you put under house arrest if I have to!"  
  
Zelgadis looked over at Phil with a hopeless expression on his face.  
  
Phil shook his head. "Don't look at me. I only work here. She's the one in charge."  
  
Zelgadis sighed and nodded. "Okay, I'll stay. Just for a few days though. I have places to go." It was a lie, but he really didn't want to be roped into staying for very long. But, why shouldn't he? He knew that everyone here enjoyed his company. Nobody in the palace stared at him and whispered behind his back. He knew that he couldn't though. They were all going to end up like Amelia. Did he want to see that again? And again? He was startled out of his thoughts by a noise.  
  
"Zel! Zel!" Emily was snapping her fingers in front of his face.  
  
Zelgadis blinked and looked at her. "What?"  
  
Emily grinned. "No brooding in the palace!" She grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the study. "Come on. I'll take you to your room."  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Zelgadis sat on the bed staring at the portrait on the wall with a thoughtful expression on his face. It was a painting of Zelgadis and Amelia.  
  
Years ago, Amelia had asked Zelgadis to pose for a painting with her, and since he had never been able to bring himself to refuse any of her requests, he had allowed it. Looking at the painting now, he wished that he hadn't.  
  
Amelia was as lovely as Zelgadis had ever remembered her. She looked as if she could have stepped out of the painting and into the room. The artist had been highly skilled. However, when Zelgadis looked at his own likeness, he wasn't nearly as pleased. He thought that some of his features had been exaggerated. The length of his ears, the angles of his face, the coldness of his expression. It felt as if the artist had, consciously or subconsciously, tried to make him look more. . .  
  
"Monstrous?"  
  
Zelgadis whirled around. Just for an instant, he thought that he saw the grinning horror that was Xellos seated behind him. He shook his head and looked again. There was nothing there except for an overstuffed pillow. Great. Now he was seeing things. He buried his face in his hands and sighed. "What's wrong with me?"  
  
There was a knock at the door.  
  
Zelgadis didn't even look up. "Come in." He heard the door open and footsteps approach the bed.  
  
"Uncle Zelgadis, is something wrong?"  
  
Zelgadis looked up to see a teen-aged girl standing beside the bed. She was wearing a simple rose-colored dress that matched her crimson eyes. Her red hair was tied up with a black ribbon. She had a pretty smile that she was favoring Zelgadis with at the moment.  
  
Zelgadis forced himself to return her smile. "Hello Claire." Emily's youngest child had been a little girl that he could carry on his shoulders the last time he had seen her, but now she was almost as tall as he was. She had grown up. He felt sick to his stomach. Time was flying by and all he could do was watch. He noticed that she was looking at him with a concerned expression on her face. How long had he been sitting there? "I'm sorry, I was thinking about something else. I suppose it's time for dinner, huh?" He stood and stretched. "Shall we go?"  
  
Claire still looked a little concerned. "If you're not feeling well, I can bring some soup up."  
  
"No, that's alright." Zelgadis thought for a second. He didn't want her worrying about him. A distraction was in order. He smiled at Claire. "I just can't believe it. I leave for a couple years and the cute little girl I remember turned into a beauty."  
  
Claire blushed a bit and spoke shyly. "I'm not that pretty."  
  
"Sure you are. I'll bet all the boys are crazy about you. Am I right?" Thank goodness it was working. Claire was becoming so flustered at Zelgadis's teasing that by the time they got down to dinner she had forgotten all about his strange behavior in the bedroom.  
  
"Ah, there's the guest of honor!" Phil called out to Zelgadis over the din of the dining room. "I saved you a seat."  
  
Zelgadis took a seat next to Phil and surveyed his surroundings. It was like something out of a nightmare. Dinner had been served and Lina's descendants were hungry. At the far end of the table, Gourry and Christopher were locked in an intense duel over a particularly succulent piece of chicken. Gouren and Lana, Phil's younger siblings, watched the melee with amused expressions on their faces. Across the table, Emily and Claire chatted happily, occasionally ducking a random piece of thrown silverware as if it were second nature.  
  
Zelgadis shook his head and looked at Phil incredulously. "How do you put up with it?"  
  
Phil grinned. "It used to bother me, but you learn to deal with it over time." He ducked a stray knife and grimaced. "You either learn to deal with it or you lose an eye." He called down to the other end of the table. "Chris! Gourry! Let's not have any more incidents like the one with the Zelfielian ambassador, okay?"  
  
Christopher scowled. "Yes father." He looked up just in time to see the remains of his chicken disappear into Gourry's mouth. "Damn it, Gourry!" He slammed his fist down on the table in frustration.  
  
Gourry shrugged and grinned. "Hey, you snooze you lose, bro. Sorry."  
  
Christopher glared at his older brother and muttered a couple curses under his breath.  
  
"Hey!" Emily called down to Christopher. "Give it a rest. It's only food, you know."  
  
Zelgadis watched this exchange with interest. Christopher reminded him a lot of himself in his youth. Angry and cold, but with a lot of potential. He had taught the boy some magic in his childhood and was surprised at how easily he had learned his lessons. If he learned some patience, he could be a master sorcerer.  
  
"You could show him. Tell him about Cruso."  
  
Zelgadis gasped.  
  
Sitting across the table, Emily had been replaced by Xellos. He grinned and began to shovel food into his mouth. "Tell him. Teach him to kill. Teach him to love it."  
  
"No!" Zelgadis slammed his fist down on the table causing everyone to stop what they were doing and stare at him.  
  
"Zel? Are you okay?" Emily looked at him with a concerned expression on her face. Xellos was nowhere to be seen.  
  
Zelgadis closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Now he was talking to himself. "I'm sorry." He glanced around the table. Everyone was still looking at him. Staring at him. "I feel a little ill. I think I'll retire for the evening." Before anything else could be said, he bolted from the table towards his room.  
  
Emily looked after him with a worried expression on her face. "Zel?"  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Zelgadis was back in his chamber, haphazardly stuffing his belongings into his satchel. If he was going mad, he definitely wasn't going to do it in front of his friends. Better to figure things out on his own. "Damn you Xellos! What did you do to me?" Worried that the priest might actually answer him, Zelgadis closed his bag and ran out the door. He thought that he heard footsteps running after him, but he didn't look back. He didn't want to know what might be there.  
  
When he reached the courtyard, he paused for a moment to catch his breath. Cautiously glancing over his shoulder, he was relieved to see nothing but the palace. Another vision. That's all it was. Xellos was back in his alley, eating his rats and spreading his poison to those who would listen.  
  
"You're really leaving, aren't you?"  
  
Zelgadis quickly looked up to see Emily sitting on a low hanging branch of a large tree. "How did you know?"  
  
Emily sighed and jumped to the ground. "Your little display at dinner was one thing. That and I've known you for almost forty years. I know how you think Zel."  
  
Zelgadis shook his head, the image of Xellos still fresh in his mind. He snapped at Emily. "You don't know anything about me! So, don't pretend otherwise." He tried to focus on his anger and ignore the hurt expression on her face.  
  
Emily spoke quietly. "I know that you're hurting, Zel. Amelia's gone and you think you're alone in the world. I felt the same way when I lost mom and dad." She put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I wasn't alone though. You, Amelia, and Phil were there for me. You're not alone either. We all love you. Why won't you stay with us?"  
  
Zelgadis felt his anger melt away. He sighed heavily. "I don't belong here. I'm sorry."  
  
Emily sounded angry. "And why not? Why won't you let yourself be happy? What have you done that's so terrible? You weren't responsible for what happened to my dad! Or, for Amelia marrying that jerk Edward! You are not the cause of the miseries of everyone around you!"  
  
Zelgadis looked at her. In his heart he felt a bit of stupid hope. Maybe, he could stay and be happy. Maybe he didn't have to leave. Suddenly, an image of Xellos came to him. No. He couldn't stay. Not until he discovered what he really was. Not until he found his purpose. "I'm sorry Emily. I can't think of anything else to say." He turned away from her and began to walk.  
  
She called after him. "Zel, wait a second."  
  
Zelgadis stopped and turned back to face her. "Yes?"  
  
"I wanted to give this to you. As a reminder, you know?" Emily held out a locket on a silver chain.  
  
Zelgadis took it and opened it. He suddenly felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. On one side, was a family portrait of Gourry, Lina, and Emily. On the other side, a picture of Amelia smiled at him. He whispered her name as his eyes blurred with tears.  
  
Emily hugged him tightly. "Mom gave that to me when I was five. Take care of it until I see you again, okay?"  
  
Zelgadis nodded and desperately clung to Emily for a few moments. Sniffing, he spoke. "I promise I'll come back someday."  
  
Emily was crying. "I know you will Zel." She smiled. "After you figure things out, right?"  
  
"Yeah." Zelgadis and Emily looked at each other for a few moments before he turned to leave. "Goodbye Emily and thank you."  
  
"Have a safe journey Zel. We'll be waiting for you."  
  
Zelgadis walked out of the palace grounds and into the night.  
  
And the years passed. . .  
  
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Next chapter: Loss and discovery  
  
Notes: *sniff, sniff* That last little bit between Zel and Emily got to me. I read back over the chapter and realized that there was no action at all in it. That's scary. I hope that nobody has been bored to tears by this story. I like the chapter though. It was fun fleshing out Emily's children a bit.  
  
Now for the reviews!  
  
CT, Filia & Val are alive and well. I don't think they're going to show up in this story though.  
  
Dolphin, I know it's pretty unslayers like. That's what I was really worried about. But I guess people are enjoying it anyway. *sighs in relief* Thanks for the "brilliant" remark. It made my day!  
  
Hikari, I'm glad you liked my characterization of Xellos. I thought that it might be too weird for the story, but it really seemed to click when I wrote it out. BTW, how's your next chapter coming? I wrote you the other day. Did you get the message?  
  
Raven, "dark but tender", huh? I like that. And it's not going to get any easier for Zel either.  
  
Dynast, I may be mistaken (hell, I probably am), but I thought that all the golden dragons attacked the ancient dragon temple near the end of Try. Don't expect to see any guilt in Xellos. His body may be human, but his spirit is still utterly evil.  
  
Stara, I was thinking the exact same thing about Xellos and Gollum. Strangely enough, I only thought of that after I wrote it out and read it. While writing, I just thought that Xellos would look different as a human. Without his false human identity, his appearance finally mirrored the evil in his soul.  
  
Thanks for the help beta reading and the review Anita! It was a big help!  
  
Well, until next time! 


	4. The fracturing

It was a bitterly cold winter day.  The howling winds whipped through the peaks of the Kataart mountains, dropping a never-ending deluge of snow and ice onto the icy tomb of Ruby Eyed Shabranigdo.  No sane person would ever travel to such a place.

Zelgadis stood knee deep in snow, staring defiantly at the sky while the snowstorm raged around him.  "Is this it?"  He snorted.  "I really expected more."  Nature held no danger for the chimera and he continued up the path.  He found himself slipping into the past again.  Not his personal history this time, but into legend itself.

The last man who had come this far up, according to legend anyway, was King Gailia.  He had led a small army in an assault on the frozen throne of Shabranigdo, arrogantly thinking that he had the power to change the world.  His pride earned him a fate far worse than death.  Even now, the people living in the area still whispered about the monstrosity that had come out of the mountains that day.  

Proud King Gailia had been changed by the dark magic that he sought to destroy.  His humanity had been stripped away leaving a pitiful creature that was constantly devouring and regenerating its own body.  He had been blessed with a horrible union of death and immortality.

Needless to say, no one since then had tried to kill Shabranigdo.

Zelgadis had no desire to do battle with the dark lord either.  He had power, but he wasn't deluded enough to think himself a match for Lord Ruby Eyes.  He was here to investigate another story that he had heard in the village below.  

The tale Zelgadis had heard involved a priest clad in crimson robes who had traveled through the area over a century ago.  A plague had tormented the villages of the area for several years and no amount of medicine or magic could halt it.  But when the red priest appeared the illness disappeared.  In gratitude to the priest, the people of the villages took it upon themselves to construct a lavish mansion in the mountains for the priest.  He resided there from time to time over the years.  However, the last time anyone had seen him was over sixty years ago.

Zelgadis had a fairly good idea of who the nameless priest was As Rezo's last living descendant; whatever was in that mansion was rightfully his.  He hoped that it contained the answers that he had been seeking for so long.  Over the years, the question had changed.  At first, he struggled to find out how his body was created so that he could reverse the transformation.  Now, he wanted to know why it had been done.

"Hey, are you listening?!"

Zelgadis blinked, as he was startled out of his thoughts.  "Excuse me?"  He effortlessly ducked a swing of a sword.  Looking around, he groaned in frustration.  Fate must have a pretty big grudge against him.  

Surrounding him were a dozen half starved, dirty, and unsavory looking men.  Bandits.

"Are you people idiots?!"  Zelgadis threw up his arms in exasperation.  "What kind of moron runs a bandit gang in the middle of nowhere?"  His voice echoed emphasizing the vast emptiness of the canyon he was in.

The man that had taken a swing at Zelgadis looked angry and a little hurt.  "Well…"

Zelgadis sighed and held up his hands in a placating manner.  Time to make the token effort to avoid needless bloodshed.  "Look, I'm very sorry.  I've had a pretty rough time lately.  Anyway, I'm sure that you probably have a very good reason for setting up an ambush out here."  He looked around at the field of whiteness that surrounded them as far as the eye could see.  "At least, I think that you probably have a good reason.  Anyway, I just want to get to the old priest's house and get what's mine."  He flicked his cape back to reveal the hilt of his sword.  "So, just step out of the way and none of you will have to die, alright?"  He flashed them what he hoped was a charming smile.

The bandit growled.  "I don't give a damn what you want.  Pickings have been pretty slim lately and me and the boys need food."

Zelgadis's smile faded.  "So get a real job, you parasite."  He back flipped quicker than any of the bandits could react and drew his sword in midair.  He gracefully landed in a defensive stance as the wind whipped his cloak around him dramatically.  It was an entrance worthy of Amelia.  He glared at the bandits coldly as he beckoned the first of them forward.  "Let's be quick about this."

The bandits yelled as they charged the chimera. They had no idea of what a dangerous creature they were attacking that day.

Zelgadis prepared to gut the first of the men, when he noticed something on the blade of his sword.  His eyes widened in shock.  "Is that rust?"  Momentarily forgetting the approaching bandits, he dropped his stance and took a closer look at his blade.  "Damn it, it is rust!  Zel, you idiot!"  While he was berating himself for letting his blade fall into such disrepair, the first of the bandits reached him.

Yelling enthusiastically, the bandit swung his sword at Zelgadis's neck… and made contact with nothing.  Overbalanced, the bandit fell face first into the snow.  He looked up at the chimera, who hadn't moved at all.  He muttered, "What the hell?"  Thinking as quickly as his slow brain would allow, he came to the only logical conclusion.  "It's a ghost!"

Zelgadis looked up from his sword at the man.  "I'm sorry?"

The bandits were already running away from him as fast as they could, screaming about ghosts and curses.

Zelgadis watched the bandits flee with an incredulous expression on his face.  "A ghost?"  He shrugged.  "Well, that's a new one."  He had been called many things over the years, but this was the first time anyone had accused him of being a specter.  He thought back.  What had happened?  The bandit swung at him.  He ducked the swing and… "They didn't see me move?"  He looked down at his body and wondered, not for the first time, how powerful he had actually become.

A smile spread across the chimera's face.  He had to admit that he was pleased.  How fast was he now?  He was tempted to find out, but that was a test that could wait for another day.  He had work to do now.

************************************************************************

An hour later, he stood atop a small hill overlooking Rezo's dilapidated mansion.  It was a fairly impressive bit of engineering. The two-story house had been built right into the face of the cliff.  Hardly the work of a bunch of unskilled villagers.  Rezo must have had a large part in the design.  If that was true, than there was almost certainly a magical laboratory built into the cliff.  It was what he would have done.  Smiling hopefully, he made his way down the hill.

The front door was made of stout oak, reinforced with bands of iron.  Concentrating for a moment Zelgadis sensed the magical energies of a locking spell holding the portal shut.  His smile widened.  "What are you hiding Rezo?"  He placed his palm on the door and muttered a small spell.  The door flew inwards and hit the wall with a loud crash.  

Stepping through the doorway, Zelgadis took in the interior of Rezo's home.  Thin sheets of ice covered the walls and the minimal amount of furniture that decorated the foyer.  At the far end of the room, he could make out a grand staircase leading up to the second floor.  There was a faint musty smell in the air.  He didn't think that anyone had been here for a very long time.

"Lighting!"  An orb of light sprang into existence over Zelgadis's head, cutting through the gloom of the hall.  Shadows danced across the walls as he moved further into the house.  Climbing the staircase, he marveled at some of the works of art lining the walls.  Even someone like him, who had little interest in art, recognized some of the signatures adorning the paintings.  Why a blind man would have paintings in his home was a mystery that had perplexed Zelgadis since childhood.

Zelgadis grinned as he stepped onto the second floor.  "Ah, this looks promising."  He quickly moved over to a huge painting of Rezo that occupied most of a wall.  He started to feel along the frame, searching for a switch.  "Let's see if you're as predictable as I expect."  He found a slight deformity in the ornate frame and pressed it.  He was rewarded with a click.  "Rezo you disappoint me."

As if in answer to his derogatory statements, something behind the painting exploded flinging the chimera backwards over the railing and to the floor.  His vision went black and he felt something shatter when he landed on the marble floor.  

Zelgadis screamed and clutched at his eyes.  He was alive, but for a moment, he wished that he wasn't.  He was blind and fairly sure that his back was broken as well.  He couldn't feel his legs, which might have actually been a blessing.  His panicked mind raced.  Nobody knew he was here.  He would lay here forever, crippled and blind.  

The chimera forced himself to take a few deep, calming breaths.  He wasn't going to die and he wasn't crippled.  Already, he could see light again where his damaged eyes were regenerating.  His back was taking a little longer, but he could feel pain in his legs and that meant that it was healing as well.  He muttered, "Very nice, Rezo.  You almost got me with that one."

Moments later, Zelgadis climbed to his feet and dusted himself off.  He twisted a couple times popping the kinks out of his newly healed spine.  He laughed.  He was as good as new, aside from being somewhat indecent.  The blast had shredded his clothes leaving little to the imagination.  No matter.  A house as large as this one surely had a spare set of clothes lying around somewhere.

Suddenly Zelgadis had a horrifying thought.  Emily's locket.  He glanced down at the place that his pocket had been.  Nothing but smoldering rags remained.  It was gone.  He moaned.  "No."  It had been destroyed in the blast.  He snarled.  "Damn you Rezo!"  He sighed shakily and shook his head.  "Get a grip, Zel!"  He quickly scanned the floor.  Something glinted in the dark.  He dashed over and snatched the locket off the ground.  Opening it, he was relieved to see that the pictures were still intact.  He sighed in relief and kissed the picture of Amelia.  Now there was the small matter of finding some clothes.

Minutes later, Zelgadis was staring at himself in a full-length mirror with a mixture of horror and fascination on his face.  Aside from a slight difference in facial features and height, it may as well have been Rezo the Red Priest staring back at him.  Rezo's crimson robes wouldn't have been his first choice for clothing, but pickings in the house were pretty slim.  He had to admit that despite their looseness on his small frame, the robes were surprisingly comfortable.  Taking one last look in the mirror, he left the bedroom.

Carefully approaching the smoking remains of Rezo's portrait, Zelgadis concentrated.  There it was.  A spell had been carefully concealed in the portrait.  No wonder he had missed it the first time.  He nodded.  "Live and learn."  He dispersed the magical energies and flipped the switch again.  This time the frame swung forward to reveal a dark passage leading into the mountain.  He eagerly entered the blackness.  It wouldn't be long now.

Zelgadis sighed.  He had been walking for what felt like hours in total darkness.  His lighting spell illuminated the stone passage well enough for him to see where he was walking, but beyond a certain point the darkness eagerly swallowed the light.  Even though it had been below freezing in the house, he found that the temperature dropped further as he continued on.  Every time he exhaled, the moisture in his breath crystallized almost instantly.  There was a thin layer of frost covering his face.

The dim light at the end of the tunnel was visible long before Zelgadis realized what he was seeing.  When he stepped out of the passage and into the cavern, he was momentarily surprised.  "Wow."  

The cavern looked as if it could have easily contained a small village within its walls.  Looking up, Zelgadis found that his light was far too faint to reach the ceiling.  But what impressed him most were the books.  Shelves and shelves of books stretched the length of the cavern and reached so far up that he had to strain his chimera eyes to see the tops in the gloom.  This was a library that put Rezo's old library in Sairaag to shame.  

Zelgadis felt a wave of magic wash over him and he immediately assumed a defensive stance.  Some sort of detection spell, he assumed.  As he watched, thousands of candles floated down from the ceiling.  They ignited in unison throwing light brighter than a cloudless day upon the chamber.  

Zelgadis wandered down a random row of shelves and stared in awe.  The works of some truly legendary sorcerers resided on the shelves.  Turning a corner, he gasped in surprise.  Chimeras.  An entire shelf of books on the study of chimeras lay before him.  

With an eager glint in his eyes, Zelgadis began to pull books from the shelf.  "Read it.  Read it.  Useless."  He carefully read each title before casually tossing the books over his shoulder.  He did that for several hours until he found his patience wearing somewhat thin.  He tore through the books with hardly a glance.  "No.  No.  No!  NO!  Rezo!"  He flung one particularly useless tome against the wall so hard that it exploded in a cloud of parchment.

Collapsing on the pile of books, Zelgadis realized that the library might as well have been empty.  There were no answers here.  "Why?!"  He shouted as if the long dead priest could answer.  "Why did you do this to me?!"

Silence was his only answer.

Zelgadis sighed and stood.  Nothing.  There was nothing here.  He stood and began to leave when something caught his eye.  Apparently, he had overlooked the small leather bound book with no markings on the cover.  Curious, he picked it up and opened it.

************************************************************************

February 12

Three months of research with no results.  I am beginning to think that my eyes will never be opened.  It's really quite ironic.  Fate allows me to heal the blind, but my own traitorous eyes refuse to answer the call of the light.  

Eris tries to offer me encouragement and what help she can.  But I can hear the despair in her voice.  She's starting to doubt me.  My closest companion is starting to lose faith in me and it wounds me deeply.  Some days her support is all that keeps me from giving up.

The more that I think about it, the more I think that my cure might not lie in the realm of white magic.  There are other methods of healing besides spell craft.  More unsavory to be sure, but I am growing desperate.  I only pray that I have the courage to pursue them.

************************************************************************

Zelgadis looked up from the page.  This was Rezo's journal!  Even if he hadn't known the story being told, he recognized the flowing handwriting on the page.  He was surprised to note that he and Rezo had something in common.  They both wanted to be normal.  He quickly squashed any sympathy that he might have for his grandfather.  "Nobody cursed him with his condition."  He flipped forward a few pages and began to read again.

************************************************************************

May 9

The first subject was a failure.  The combination of a troll and a human proved to be most unstable.  Although for the first few days there was enhanced regeneration in the subject, eventually the troll portion rejected the human killing the subject.  It doesn't matter though.  I have just begun my research and still believe that it has potential.

On another track, the demons that I have captured have shown remarkable magical capabilities.  Perhaps they have the power to heal my eyes?"

************************************************************************

Zelgadis was surprised to see Rezo write so callously about the loss of human life.  Even the handwriting seemed different.  Neater, but harsher at the same time.  He looked up.  "How very cruel, Rezo."

"Oh, you're one to talk."  Xellos's voice hissed at Zelgadis out of a dark corner.

Zelgadis didn't even look up.  "Shut up.  You're not real."  He quickly flipped a couple more pages and began to read before the voice could respond.  He gasped.  "Is this it?"

************************************************************************

August 14

I believe I have isolated the problem with the troll and human combination.  Since the troll has a defined form, its regenerative capabilities try to return it to that default form.  That's why it rejects the human portion.

I believe that if I were able to somehow combine a demon with a human than the results would be different.  Since a demon has no predetermined form, I believe that its regenerative capabilities would adapt more easily to a human.

************************************************************************

"Well I guess you found a way to do it Rezo."  Zelgadis scanned the next couple of pages.  They were pretty technical but fascinating nonetheless.  He muttered, "Excessive chaotic energy drove subjects to madness and eventually death…  Rock golem used to dilute chaotic energy…" He gripped the book tightly as he read the next entry.

************************************************************************

November 1

Zelgadis is a failure.  Aside from a substantial increase in physical and magical capabilities, he has shown no increased regenerative capabilities.  

I'm patient though.  With Shabranigdo's help I will be able to…

************************************************************************

The journal fell from Zelgadis's numb fingers.  He whispered, "I'm a failure?"  He buried his face in his hands.  "Amelia, I'm sorry.  I tried to find a purpose, but I'm all out of ideas."  He heard Xellos's mocking laughter ring out in the room.  He muttered, "Let me be."

But the apparition would not be so easily dissuaded.  It floated down and sat on a shelf just out of the chimera's reach.  "No purpose, Zelgadis?  That's not true.  I told you what your purpose was.  You're here to spread misery."

Zelgadis looked at the spidery nightmare that was Xellos the bum.  "Leave me alone Xellos."  His voice had a dangerous sound to it.

Xellos's features seemed to blur momentarily.  When he came back into focus he was Xellos, trickster priest.  He shook his head and grinned.  "My, my.  Aren't you an ingrate?  You go out of your way to find your answers in a moldy old library."  He looked at his surroundings in disgust.  "And when I try to hand you the answers you seek, you snub me."

"I'm not listening to you.  You're not real."

Xellos looked somewhat annoyed.  "Oh, I suppose you think that makes some kind of difference?  The truth doesn't change because of whom you hear it from."

Another voice rang out.  "Don't listen to him, Mr. Zelgadis!"

Zelgadis massaged his temples in frustration.  "By Ceiphied, not another one."  He looked up to see Amelia standing atop the mountain of books glaring at Xellos.  "Amelia?"

Amelia looked as she had before age and disease had claimed her.  Appearing to be about sixteen years old, she was full of life and health.  "Xellos, for too long you've tried to manipulate poor Mr. Zelgadis into abandoning the path of justice!  Just because he has skin harder than stone and hair like wire doesn't make him any less human!"  She smiled at Zelgadis warmly.  "At least, I don't think so."

"Amelia…"  Zelgadis felt a dull ache in his soul at seeing Amelia again.  The logical part of his mind knew that he was alone in the library, but at this point he didn't care.  He was finally seeing Amelia again.

Xellos smirked at Amelia.  "Thank you very much little miss sunshine, but the truth is that Zelgadis isn't human.  He hasn't been for most of his life.  He's a monster and the sooner he accepts that fact, the happier he'll be."  He looked down at Zelgadis with an expression of mock sympathy on his face.  "And you want to be happy, don't you Zelgadis?"

Zelgadis nodded mutely.  Maybe Xellos had been right.  He could see the demon's logic.  Nothing else had made Zelgadis happy so maybe…

Xellos grinned wickedly sensing his impending victory.

Amelia looked back and forth between Zelgadis and Xellos nervously.  "But…"

"Uh, well I don't really understand what you guys are talking about, but…" Gourry had materialized leaning against the bookcase.  He scratched his head as he looked at Zelgadis.  "…Zel is Zel, you know?  Who cares if he's not entirely human?  That doesn't make him a monster."

Amelia beamed happily at Gourry.  "Yeah, that's right Mr. Gourry!"

Xellos looked a little sick.  He glanced down at something beside Zelgadis and groaned.  "Oh, not you too!"

"Wow, surprisingly deep there, Gourry!  Nice job!"  Lina had materialized next to Zelgadis on the pile of books.  She was giving Gourry the thumbs up.  She winked at Zelgadis.  "You know Zel, the truth is that you should do what you want to do."  She shot Xellos a dirty look.  "Don't let anyone else try to change who you are."

Xellos clapped politely.  "A fine speech Lina, but as usual you're missing the point.  I'm not trying to change Zelgadis.  I'm trying to help him accept what he is."

Amelia struck a pose and pointed at Xellos.  "What you are trying to do, is drag Mr. Zelgadis onto the path of darkness!  I cannot forgive that!"

Gourry spoke up.  "Amelia, it's not polite to point."

Amelia turned to Gourry angrily.  "That's not important right now Mr. Gourry!"

"Yeah, I guess, but…"

"Zelgadis needs to…"

"You know, I'm getting kinda hungry…"

"What does that have to do with anything?!"

Zelgadis watched the argument with a dreamy look on his face.  Maybe this was real.  It certainly felt real.  He shook his head and sighed.  No, he was alone in a cavern listening to the voices in his head.  An incredible wave of self-pity washed over him.  He looked to his left when he heard an annoyed growl.

Lina was looking at the arguing figures with an annoyed expression on her face.  "So, is this bugging the hell out of you too, Zel?"  She massaged her temples for a moment before turning to look at Zelgadis.  "Sometimes you can think too much.  That was a big problem of yours.  You'd think, get depressed, think some more, and before long you'd be so stressed out there was no living with you."  She grinned and elbowed him in the ribs.  "You know?"

Zelgadis nodded.  "I guess so."

Lina leapt to her feet and struck a pose.  "At times like that, you've just gotta blow some steam off!"  She winked at Zelgadis.  "You know what I mean?"

Zelgadis grinned and stood.  "I think that I do, Lina."  He looked around at the library.  There was nothing of value here.  He quickly walked to the passage leading to the mansion while gathering magical energy.  He muttered.  "Darkness beyond twilight…"

Lina appeared behind Zel and put an encouraging hand on his shoulder.  "Yeah, don't hold back Zel!"

"…and crimson blood that flows.  Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows."  Zelgadis felt his anger growing.  How dare Rezo tamper with his life for some stupid research?

Amelia and Gourry appeared behind Lina.  They both looked somewhat nervous.

Amelia cautiously cleared her throat.  "Um, Mr. Zelgadis?  Are you sure that this is a good idea?"

Lina waved her off.  "This will be good for him Amelia.  He's kept everything bottled up for too long."

Zelgadis struggled to pull more and more of Shabranigdo's power into his body.  "I pledge myself to destroy all those who stand before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand."  The energies flowed through him far more efficiently than any normal human.  Waves of chaotic energy emanated from his body, shifting and warping the room around the chimera.

Lina chuckled nervously.  "Uh, Zel?  Maybe you should tone it down, just a bit?"  Seeing that he was ignoring her, Lina and the others quickly backed away.  She muttered, "Or not."

Zelgadis let his fury consume him as he finished the spell.  He snarled as he shouted the last part of the spell.  "Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess!  Dragon Slave!"  

"And furthermore Amelia… Hmm?"  Xellos stopped his argument when he realized that there was nobody left listening to him.  He looked around just in time to see a fiery wave of death wash over him.

The blast turned the mansion and a large portion of the mountain to dust instantly.  The resulting shockwave shattered windows for miles around.  When the smoke finally cleared, Zelgadis was standing on a perfectly flat stretch of ground over a mile in diameter.  He watched as snow turned to steam upon contact with the superheated earth.  He nodded, immensely satisfied with himself.  "You were right, Lina.  I do feel better now."  With a flick of his crimson cape, Zelgadis turned and walked into the frozen wasteland.

************************************************************************

Hours later, Zelgadis continued on through the wilderness.  He realized that since he had destroyed the mansion, he hadn't heard the voices.  He finally had blessed peace.  He thought for a moment.  The sword he had carried for so many years had been in the mansion when he destroyed it.  He was surprised to note that he didn't care.  That was part of his past.  He was looking to the future now.

"Help!"  A man came running out of the woods towards Zelgadis.  "Thank Ceiphied!  A priest!"

Zelgadis looked at the man with a confused expression.  He muttered, "Priest?"  Then it hit him.  The robes.  He was wearing Rezo's robes.  He shook his head.  "I'm sorry.  You're mistaken.  I'm not a…"

The man grabbed his hand.  "Please!  My friend was attacked by a bear and he's hurt bad!  I don't think he'll make it back to the village."

Zelgadis nodded after a moment.  "Take me to him."

Moments later, Zelgadis was kneeling next to a badly wounded man.  He surveyed the injuries grimly.  He would almost certainly die, but Zelgadis had to try.  He put his hands on the man's chest.  "Recovery."  The healing energy flowed from Zelgadis to the injured man.

Slowly but surely, the man's wounds closed.  It seemed that he would survive after all.  A little later the man opened his eyes.  

Zelgadis carefully helped the man up to a sitting position.  "Careful now.  Take it easy for a minute."  

The man grinned.  "Thank you very much.  I'm glad John found you.  I don't think I would have lasted much longer."  

Zelgadis was touched by the man's gratitude.  He felt a smile spread across his face.  "Not a problem.  Just be more careful next time."

"You can be sure of that."  The man held out his hand to Zelgadis.  "By the way, I'm Thomas.  And you are?"

Zelgadis just stared at him for a minute.  Who was he?  

Thomas's grin faded a bit.  "Are you okay?  What's your name friend?"

Zelgadis heard a name escape his lips.  "Rezo."

Thomas shook Zelgadis's hand.  "Thank you again, Mr. Rezo.  Give me a hand here John."

John helped Thomas to his feet and after a brief goodbye, they departed for their village.

Zelgadis was in a daze as he walked on.  Why had he said that his name was Rezo?

It was as good a name as any.  What was wrong with it?

Well, for one thing, it wasn't his name.  He was Zelgadis.  Zelgadis Greywords.  Heartless sorcerer swordsman.

Zelgadis shrugged.  "Kind of hard to be a swordsman without a sword."  Only a few people knew who he really was.  Where was the harm in pretending to be Rezo for a while?  

Zelgadis growled.  "Because I'm not Rezo!"

Being Zelgadis hurt though.  Zelgadis represented disappointment and pain.  What was worth saving about Zelgadis?  He was burdened by painful memories.  On top of that, he was delusional and a murderer.  The more he thought about it, the more he hated Zelgadis.

But, Rezo represented a fresh start.  He could be free to pursue his purpose without any of the pain and guilt of the past.  He smiled.  He had found his purpose, quite by accident.  He wouldn't kill anymore.  He would only heal.  It would be a good life.  He looked up at the sky.  "What do you think of that Xellos?"  He listened for a moment expecting some sort of sarcastic remark from the priest.

He only response was the singing of birds flying overhead.

Rezo laughed.  That settled it.  

Zelgadis made one final protest.  "You're not solving anything!  You're running away from the truth!"  He was shocked at his response.

"Who cares?"  With that Zelgadis faded into the back of the chimera's mind without so much as a whimper.

Rezo the Red Priest continued on his journey, no longer troubled by the past.

************************************************************************

Next chapter:  Zelgadis has obtained happiness.  Or has he?

Whew!  Had to totally rewrite this chapter.  Normally I write on one computer and transfer it the one hooked up to the Internet later by disk, but the disk drive went down on the machine and I had to retype the whole thing.  The weird thing is that it grew by 1000 words in the transfer.  *shrugs*  I like it better this way though.  Believe it or not, I actually cut some garbage out and expanded the important stuff.

That was rough.  I hope everyone can see why Zel did what he did at the end.  It's been a rough life for him and it wasn't getting any better.

I love the idea of Zel in the red robes for some reason.  It's one of the images that inspired the whole "Revival" storyline.  I think it came off pretty well.

I also loved getting the Slayers cast back in the story in one form or another.  I really like writing Gourry and Lina specifically.

Well on to the reviews.

Raven, I can't wait to see where this story is going either.  I always have an idea when I start, but it never goes according to plan.  That's part of the fun though.

Fang, thanks for the kind words.  I guess you got the answer to your question.

Until next time!


	5. Scattering the pieces

The chimera's brow was furrowed in concentration.  Truly, this was a worthy challenge.  He focused his magical energy into a tiny orb in his hand and grinned.  Sensing that it was time to strike, he thrust his palm forward driving the energy into his target.  Perfect.  A child's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.  He blinked.  "I'm sorry?"

The six year old smiled shyly.  "Why does your face look like that?"

The girl's mother gasped in shock.  She quickly glanced back and forth between Rezo and her daughter.  "Alice, that's so rude!"

Rezo's smile faded and confusion flashed across his face, briefly.  He continued his spell as he spoke.  "That's quite all right, ma'am.  If we don't ask questions, we never learn anything."  He looked into the young girl's eyes.  There was no hint of malice or fear in her gaze, just an honest desire for knowledge.  "It's a gift from Ceiphied, Alice.  See?"  He took one of her hands and placed it on his face.

Alice gingerly ran her fingers over the contours of Rezo's face.  "It's hard."

Rezo nodded.  "I was given this body to assist me in my work.  I don't need to eat or drink.  On top of that…"  He rapped on his head with his knuckles, eliciting a giggle from Alice.  "…as you so astutely noted, my body is as hard as rock.  It helps me endure the trials that Lord Ceiphied has set before me."  He smiled warmly as he finished up the spell.  "That should do it Alice."  He stood and extended his hand to her.  "Can you stand?"

Alice took Rezo's hand and was quickly pulled to her feet.  She closed her eyes, waiting to fall again.  She had never had the use of her legs before and she was quite surprised to note that she was still standing after Rezo released her hand.

Alice's mother had fallen to her knees and was weeping with joy.  "Thank you!  Thank you!"  She grabbed Rezo's leg and hugged him tightly.  "It's a miracle!"

Rezo gently dislodged the woman from his leg, looking somewhat embarrassed.  "It's quite all right."  He smiled at Alice.  "Well, don't just stand there.  Try walking."

Alice nodded and nervously took a step.  He knees were shaking and she lost her balance.

Rezo caught her and chuckled.  "Well, it takes some getting used to.  But, you keep at it and one day you'll be able to run like the wind."  

Moments later, Rezo was on the road again, headed for the next village.  Normally he would have been happy with the morning's events, but now he wore a scowl on his face.  Why did he have this body?  He touched his face and sighed.  There had to be some explanation.  The answer was probably in his past, but he had no desire to explore his memories.  For one thing, trying to remember the past always made him angry for some reason.  Another reason was that his memories scared him.  It felt as if there was something hiding within him, and if he went to far back it would pounce.

Rezo forced a chuckle.  "Nonsense.  There's just no reason to dwell on the past when there's work to be done now."  Looking up, he saw a group of travelers walking towards him.  He smiled.  It was time to get to work.

Moments later, Rezo was tending to an old man's arthritis when something caught his attention.  He looked up at two men who were standing next to him talking.  "Excuse me, what did you just say?"

One of the men glanced at him and frowned.  "I was just talking about King Phillionel.  He's dead, you know."

Rezo gasped in surprise.  "Phillionel?"  He knew that name.  

The man looked surprised.  "Surely, you heard the news?  They say he was assassinated.  On top of that, his son disappeared the same day."  His face darkened.  "If you ask me, his son's the one who did it."

The old man that Rezo was tending to nodded in agreement.  "Not the first time something like this has happened though.  Remember when Princess Gracia ran off all those years ago?

The younger man blinked in surprise.  "Grandpa, I don't even remember a Gracia.  When did that happen?"

The old man shrugged.  "Eighty, maybe ninety years ago."

The younger man laughed.  "Well, that would explain why I don't remember.  We're all not a hundred like you grandpa."

The old man chuckled.  "I suppose not.  Anyway, Phillionel's wife, the first Phillionel mind you, was assassinated.  She had two daughters.  Gracia was the older of the two.  She ran away after the murder.  Nobody ever heard from her again.  You probably remember the younger one, Amelia.  She was Crown Princess for a while before she disappeared.  And that's not the only weird thing to happen with the royal family either.  Why, I remember… You okay, sonny?"  He glanced at Rezo who had a look of utter shock on his face.  "Sonny?"  He snapped his fingers in front of the priest's face a couple times.

Rezo just stared ahead lost in his own world.  Phillionel, Seyruun, and Amelia.  They all seemed so familiar.  He whispered, "Amelia".  Noticing that the voices around him had stopped, he glanced up.  "I'm sorry?"

"You kinda fell asleep there for a second, sonny."  The old man grunted as he stood.  He flexed his hands appreciatively.  "That's amazing.  I haven't felt this good in years.  What did you say your name was again?"

"Rezo.  Rezo the Red Priest."  Rezo shook his head trying to focus on the conversation.  What was wrong with him?

The old man looked at Rezo doubtfully.  "The Red Priest, you say?  What an odd coincidence."

Rezo looked at the old man, a feeling of panic rising within him.  "Why is that?"

"There was another priest, went by the name of Rezo, who wandered the land a long time ago.  I just thought it was odd that you called yourself Rezo the Red Priest.  It's not a common name you know.  Are you related to him or something?"

"Yes."  Rezo quickly lied.  There was information to be gained here if he played his cards right.  Had he really been wandering around healing the sick for a century?  "He was my great grandfather."  He hesitated for a moment.  "What happened to him?"

The old man furrowed his brow in thought.  "Hmm, well he disappeared before I was born.  Then he came back a decade later.  Something was different about him though."

"Different grandpa?" The younger man interrupted and received a withering glare from Rezo.

The old man nodded.  "He had once been a kind man, or so I was told by my pappy anyways, but when he came back he was cold.  Rumor was that he was involved with the dark arts and eventually destroyed Sairaag."

Rezo nodded eagerly.  This all sounded very familiar.  This was why he had this body.  Ceiphied had punished him for his transgressions in his youth.  It was so clear now.  He mumbled a quick prayer of thanks to Ceiphied for his wisdom and mercy.

The young man laughed.  "Which time are you talking about grandpa?  Sairaag's had the worst luck of any city I've ever seen.  Just last year it was hit by an earthquake and before that…" 

Rezo scowled.  This impertinent bastard was terribly annoying.  He sighed and prayed for patience.  Speaking loudly he cut the younger man off.  "You were saying something about Rezo, sir?"

"Oh right, Rezo.  Well, about that time a group of heroes rose up to stop him.  Let's see…"  He began to count on his fingers.  "There was Gourry Gabriev, a master swordsman whose amazing strength was matched only by his keen intellect.  Lina Inverse, a master of the dark arts herself.  Supposedly, she drank the blood of young virgins to keep her powers.  Over three hundred years old, she was."  He grinned at his grandson.  "Our very own princess Amelia was involved as well.  And then there was that mysterious sorcerer swordsman.  He was a demon you know.  Summoned by Inverse to fight Rezo.  His soul was as black as night.  Apparently, he escaped from Inverse because he started to cause trouble on his own.  Killed everyone in a village up north, if you believe the stories."

Rezo's head was throbbing.  He massaged his temples and hissed at the old man.  "What happened to Rezo?"

"Killed by Inverse.  I suppose she was jealous of his power and wanted to claim it for herself.  It was a mighty battle though.  Lasted for a day and a night, but in the end Inverse took Rezo's head for a trophy.  Evil woman, that one was.  She even destroyed part of the capital city a year after that."  The old man shook his head sadly.  "Terrible business, that was."

Rezo shook his head.  "No."  He couldn't believe what the old man had told him.  He whispered, "I'm not dead."  Of course he wasn't dead.  He was standing here in fine shape.  Apparently, the old man's story must be wrong.  Chalk it up to old age.  The elderly were always misremembering things.  He must have killed the evil sorceress Lina Inverse.  Then Ceiphied gave him this body as punishment for his misdeeds.  He nodded, satisfied with his conclusion.  

Rezo smiled at the two men.  "Gentlemen, if you'll excuse me, I still have much work to do.  Could you kindly direct me to the next village?"

************************************************************************

Hours later, Rezo looked around and begrudgingly admitted that he was lost.  He muttered, "This doesn't make any damn sense!"  He glared at the map the two men had drawn for him.  "A mountain?"  He looked around angrily at the decidedly flat landscape.  "A mountain?!"  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  Anger was unbecoming of a priest of Ceiphied.  He was about to examine the map again when he heard a woman's scream echo through the forest.  An instant later, swirling leaves were the only indication that he had ever been standing there.

Rezo sprinted through the forest, calling upon speed that he didn't know that he had.  The trees flew by in the blink of an eye, but at the same time seemed to move at a snail's pace.  He whispered to himself, "Call out again.  Let me hear you."  The forest was vast and the scream had echoed, leaving him with very little to work with.  

As if in answer, the woman screamed again.  "Somebody, please help me!"

That was all Rezo needed.  Adjusting his course ever so slightly to the left, he burst into a clearing.  He paused, just for a second, to take in the situation.  Several wolves surrounded a young lady.  Willing himself to move at an even faster pace, he plowed into the beasts before they even knew he was there.  He snatched the largest off the ground effortlessly flung it against a tree.  There was a sickening crunch and a splash of crimson as wolf skull met pine.  The beast fell to the ground and lay still.  Rezo snarled as he turned to face the other wolves.  

Apparently somewhat intimidated by this new arrival and the death of their leader, the other wolves quickly darted off into the woods with their tails between their legs.  A moment later, the woods were peaceful again.

Rezo sighed shakily as he surveyed the clearing.  What had he done?  How had he done it?  His head full of questions, he walked over to a nearby tree and collapsed in the shade.  "Lord, what manner of gift have you bestowed upon me?" he asked as he looked at his hands.

A soft voice spoke to Rezo.  "Thank you for your help, sir."

Rezo shook his head.  "Not a problem miss.  I'm just glad I was in time."  He looked up and his breath caught in his throat.

Standing before Rezo was a beautiful young lady.  Hair the color of midnight spilled down her back, framing a beautiful face with two deep blue eyes.  She wore a simple rose tinted dress, the clothes of a farmer perhaps.  She was favoring him with a warm smile that seemed to light up the clearing.

Suddenly, someone else was standing before Rezo in the girls place.  Another girl with short dark hair and blue eyes.   She wore a white outfit with a matching cape trimmed in pink.  She smiled.  "Hello, Mr. Zelgadis!"

"Amelia?!"  Zelgadis reached out to the girl just as the vision faded.

Rezo frowned.  Who was she?  First the old man mentions an Amelia and then…

"Anita, sir."  The young lady took a step back, watching Rezo warily.  The man was acting very strange.

Rezo blinked and shook his head.  "I'm sorry.  What did you say?"

"Anita.  My name is Anita.  I think you had me confused with someone else."  She cautiously moved to his side and put a hand on his arm.  "Do you need help?  Are you ill?"

"No, I'm fine."  Rezo shied away from her touch as if she might burn him.  He inhaled and detected a faint hint of jasmine on the girl.  His heart ached and he felt a deep sense of loss, but at the same time familiarity.  Forcing himself to look into Anita's eyes, he smiled.  They were so beautiful.

Anita returned his gaze unflinchingly.  "That's good to hear.  I thought you might have hurt yourself in that fight."  She giggled.  "Hey, you missed one."

Rezo had climbed to his feet and was removing stray leaves from his robes.  He gasped in surprise when Anita brushed a leaf out of his hair.  "Yes, well, um, thank you very much, Miss."  He was stammering like an idiot.  It was unbecoming of a priest.

Anita smiled.  "How did you manage to find me, if you don't mind me asking?"

Rezo answered, "I was on the road when I heard a scream.  You were easy to find after that."

Anita looked at Rezo skeptically.  "Do you mean the main road?  That doesn't make any sense.  That road is at least five miles away.  There's no way you could have made it in time."

Rezo looked at her incredulously.  Five miles?  He had run five miles in mere moments?  Thinking quickly, he lied.  "Of course not.  See this?"  He pulled out his map and pointed to a random spot on it.  "I was on a forest path not too far from here.  I was trying to find my way to the next village."

Anita glanced at the map for a moment before giggling.

Rezo looked confused for a moment before grinning.  Her laughter was infectious.  "I'm sorry.  Did I miss the joke?"

Anita shook her head, trying to control her laughter.  "You got this from a young man and his grandfather, right?"  She laughed even louder when Rezo nodded.  "No wonder you're out in the middle of nowhere.  See?"  She pointed to a signature on the corner of the map.

Rezo read it aloud.  "Ryoga Hibiki?  What's the significance?"

Anita thought for a moment.  "Let's just say that he's not the most reliable map maker in the area."  She sighed, finally getting her laughter under control.  "Anyway, you're about fifteen miles off course."  She looked up at the sky, which was turning a lovely shade of orange.  "And I'd say that it's too late for you to make it before dark."

Rezo watched the sun dip behind the trees.  "I suppose that you're right."

"I know!  Why don't you come home with me?"  Anita pulled on Rezo's arm.

Rezo felt his face become hot as he halfheartedly resisted her.  "I'm sorry Miss, but we just met and I don't think that it would be terribly appropriate…"

"No silly!"  Anita smacked Rezo lightly on the arm.  She winced in pain and shook her hand.  "Ow, that hurt.  What's wrong with you anyway?"  She quickly regretted her words when she saw the hurt look cross his face.  "I'm sorry.  It's really none of my business.  Anyway, I'd like to make you some dinner and I'm sure my father would want to thank you for saving me.  Please?"  She saw him struggling to make up his mind and decided to play her trump card.  "I'm making mushroom soup."  She nodded to an overturned basket of mushrooms on the other side of the clearing.  "That's why I was out here."  She saw a hint of a smile on his face.  "It's the best in the kingdom."

Rezo shook his head and grinned.  "With an offer like that, how could I possibly refuse?"  He admonished himself.  What was he doing?  He didn't need to eat.  Apparently, having to travel fifteen miles didn't mean anything to him either.  He knew that he could be there in five minutes if he really wanted to.  Still…

Rezo watched Anita gather up the mushrooms in the fading light.  None of that mattered right now.  What harm was there in spending the evening in the company of a lovely young lady and her father?  Nothing at all, he decided.  He walked over to where she was hunting for the last of the fallen mushrooms.  "Here, let me help you…"

************************************************************************

Rezo had to admit, the soup smelled wonderful.  He leaned back in his chair as he surveyed the small cabin.  It was modest, but there wasn't really any need for anything fancy out in the wilderness.  Once again, he felt a strange sense of déjà vu as he examined the room.  It felt so familiar.  Almost as if…

"…we lived somewhere similar, for about four decades?" Zelgadis said smugly.

Rezo muttered, "Shut up."  Thankfully, the sorcerer swordsman seemed content to let the subject drop for now.  A moment later, he had forgotten all about Zelgadis again.

Anita turned to Rezo and smiled.  "Did you say something?"

Rezo shook his head.  "Just going over my schedule for tomorrow."  He sniffed the air and smiled.  "The soup smells great, Miss Anita."

Anita was about to answer when the door burst open to reveal a large form.

"Anita, you will not believe the day that I've had!  Those damn McDonalds' have been bitching up a storm."  The man laughed heartily.

Anita crossed her arms and glared at the man.  "Father, you haven't been fighting with old McDonald again, have you?"

Anita's father grinned, revealing a gold tooth.  "Ah, you got me.  I skunked that bastard three times at chess today.  Boy, was he pissed.  Old McDonald needs to stay on his farm, if you ask me."  This was followed by another bout of laughter.

Rezo shrank into the corner.  This bear of a man was Anita's father?!  He glanced at the doorway.  No good.  The large man was still blocking it.  Maybe through a window?  His escape plans were thwarted when Anita spoke again.

Anita frowned.  "Father, watch the language!  We have a guest."  She nodded to Rezo.  "Rezo the Red Priest.  He saved me from some wild animals in the forest today."

"That right?"  The man enveloped Rezo's hand in one of his own and pumped it vigorously.  "The name's Don.  Damn pleased to meet you!  Damn pleased!  Helped my little girl out did you?  Can't thank you enough for that."  His grin faded slightly as he looked down at the priest.  

Rezo tried to melt through the floor, but apparently that wasn't one of the powers that he possessed.  He squeaked, "Not a problem, sir."

"Sir?'  Don't be calling me sir.  I think Don will do", he said as he took the seat next to the priest.  He elbowed the much smaller man in the ribs roughly.  "Don't you be hogging all the soup now, you hear?"

Rezo grinned painfully.  "I'll try not to, si… um, Don."  This was a nightmare.  He had to get out of here.  He smiled at Anita as she handed him a bowl of soup, thankful for the distraction.  "Thank you very much, Miss Anita."

Don wolfed the first bowl of soup that Anita set before him.  He belched loudly.  "Damn, I swear this gets better every time you make it."

Anita refilled Don's bowl while giving him a reproachful look.  "Father, language!  He's a priest!"

Rezo waved frantically at Anita trying to keep her from drawing attention to him.  "No, that's quite alright Anita.  I've heard far worse."  He glanced at Don curiously.  Something was amiss here.

Don was inhaling another bowl of soup, but seemed far more interested in Rezo.  His eyes were fixed upon the priest over the lip of his bowl.

Rezo narrowed his eyes as he stared back.  There was more to this man than there seemed.  Far more, he thought.  Despite his boorish ways, he had noticed some things about Don in the short time that they had been together.  

First, there was the matter of his clothes.  They were the clothes of a farmer, but the stains in the fabric weren't from dirt.  They were… different.  Secondly, there was the smell.  Don had the scent of animals all over him, but not farm animals.  Wild creatures.  Finally, there was the small matter of his hands. Rezo had gotten a good look at Don's hands when he greeted him.  Those hands were smooth.  They weren't the hands of a farmer.

Rezo sipped his tasteless soup and spoke, "What did you say that you did for a living Don?"  His eyes never left Don's, almost as if he were challenging him.  There was something else here.  He doubted that Don was the gentle giant that he tried to make himself out to be.

Don scratched his head and glanced away nervously.  "I don't reckon I said.  I'm a farmer.  Got a field a little ways away.  Couple of animals too."  He glanced out the window into the darkness, quickly changing the subject.  "I guess you'll be staying the night then?  Little late to be heading out, if you ask me."

Rezo watched Don a moment longer before nodding.  He was a guest in this house and any secrets that the man had were none of his business.  He turned away from Don and looked at Anita.  She looked nervous.  Had she sensed something?  He gave her a reassuring smile that she gratefully returned.

Don belched loudly and leaned back in his chair, causing it to creak dangerously.  "Sorry about that pumpkin", he said as he saw her disapproving look.  He stood and stretched.  "Well, I reckon I'll clean out a spot in the shed for you Rezo."

"Oh, father.  The shed?"  Anita looked at Don angrily.  "It'll be cold out there."

Rezo shook his head.  "Don't worry about me, Miss Anita.  After spending the last couple nights in the woods, having any roof over my head would be a welcome change."  He stood and bowed to Anita.  "Thank you for the splendid meal.  Good night."  He followed Don out of the house into the night.

After they had gotten a short ways away from the cabin, Don cleared his throat nervously.  "Nice weather tonight, ain't it?"  

Rezo looked up at the sky.  "Lovely."  The full moon cast a silvery light over the forest, illuminating a small shed in the distance.  He glanced at the man walking beside him.  He was breathing quickly and Rezo noticed that his hands were shaking.  "Something wrong?"

Don jumped as if Rezo had struck him instead of asking him a question.  "No, not at all."  He fumbled for some keys and unlocked the shed.  "There's a lantern over there, if you be needing it.  You can open the window if it gets too hot in here and…"  He looked around for a moment before pulling a tattered blanket from under a shelf and handing it to Rezo.  "You can use this, if it gets too cold for you."  He looked around nervously before lowering his voice.  "You mind if I ask you a personal question?"

Rezo shook his head warily.  "Not at all."  He beat on the blanket expelling a large cloud of dust.  How long had it been in here?

Don cleared his throat.  "Um, how long have you been one?"

Rezo glared at Don, not liking where this was going at all.  He spoke icily, "How long have I been what?"

"You know, a chimera."  Don grinned as he stared at Rezo.

Rezo stared back at him for a long moment before answering.  "I'm afraid I really have no idea what you are talking about.  Now, if you'll excuse me."  He stifled a yawn.  "It really is very late and I've got a long journey in the morning."

Don blinked in surprise.  "Oh.  Oh, well of course!  I understand.  Touchy subject, eh?"  He backed away from the shed mumbling an apology before he turned and retreated towards the house.

Rezo stared after him, disliking him immensely.  He slammed the door, probably harder than he should have, and curled up on the dusty floor.  He muttered, "A chimera?" Something about that word infuriated him.  He closed his eyes and sighed.  It wasn't worth worrying about.  There were insensitive people all over the world, so why did this particular man bother him so?

Deciding that he wasn't going to get any sleep worrying about Don, Rezo struggled to find something worthwhile to think about.  There was Alice from earlier in the day.  He wondered if she was walking yet.  Probably, he decided.  She seemed to be a smart girl.  Then there was the old man.  Thanks to Rezo, his life was a little easier now and Rezo had even managed to find out a bit about his past too.

His brow furrowed in anger, Rezo muttered, "Except for the part about being dead.  I am most certainly not dead."  He looked at his robes, more silver than red in the moonlight.  They looked almost ghostly in the gloom.  "Stop it!" he snapped.

Noticing that he was slipping into a bad mood, Rezo quickly thought about something else.  Anita.  Anita wearing her simple dress, and smelling of jasmine.  Anita with her beautiful blue eyes.  Smiling contentedly, he slipped into slumber where two dark haired beauties waited to greet him.  He muttered their names as he fell deeper into his dreams.

And the months passed…

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Next Chapter:  Zelgadis wakes up.  But, is Rezo going to leave quietly?

Notes:  Whew!  Sorry it took so long to update this.  I really got stuck for a little while and, well, *shrugs* you see what happened.  Three weeks since the last update.  Don't worry though.  The rest of the story is pretty well planned out and should be coming at a far more regular pace.

This chapter was an absolute PAIN to write.  I struggled on the first quarter for about two and a half weeks and finished the rest in two days.  Thank you inspiration!  This is the first chapter that really feels like part of a bigger story to me.  The rest of them I sort of view as a collection of short stories, but this one is different.  We're about half way through the story and the rest should tie together better than the first half.

Oh, before I forget, a special thanks to Chaos Anita for serving as the inspiration for the Anita in this chapter.  Thanks a bunch!  

Also, thanks to the people at www.inverse.org, the best Slayers site on the net.  I meant to mention them last chapter, but better late than never.

A quick question for the readers.  Did anyone catch what I did with the dates in Rezo's journal in chapter 4?  It's kinda a hint for the third story…

Oh, and I'd like to take a moment to apologize to everyone for the Old McDonald joke.  It just struck me as funny so I put it in.

Review responses.

Anita, you're an excellent writer, damn it!  Especially since English is a second language for you.

Hikari no Chibi, do you ever check your e-mail?!  I wrote you about two weeks ago and haven't heard back.  And Zel hasn't been totally buried as you saw in this chapter.  You'll see more of him in the next couple chapters.

Linagabriev, I think I answered all your questions in the e-mail I sent you.  Tell me if I missed any.

Thanks for reading everyone!


	6. Betraying the past

Rezo grunted as he set down the load of firewood he was carrying.  He looked at it with an amused expression on his face.  "Do you think we have enough?" he asked Anita, a wry grin on his face.

Anita giggled as she examined the results of Rezo's labor.  The "firewood" was a single tree, three feet in diameter at its thickest point and ten feet long.  "Rezo, I think this is enough wood to last all winter."  She looked at the doorway skeptically.  "But how are we going to get it in the house?"

"Not a problem" Rezo answered.  He thrust his fingers into the wood effortlessly and lifted the log over his head.  It began to pop and creak as he applied pressure to it and finally broke in half with a thunderous snap.  He grinned at Anita as he quickly broke the log down into more manageable pieces.

Anita watched him, a mixture of awe and mirth on her face.  "You big show off.  How do you do that?"

Rezo thought for a moment.  "I honestly don't know," he finally answered, frowning.  He sat down in the shade of the cabin and sighed loudly,  "There's so much that I don't know about myself."  His expression darkened and he muttered, "It's really quite infuriating."

Anita shook her head.  "Hey, don't worry about it."  Rezo was getting into one of his moods again.  She sat next to him and laid her head on his shoulder.  "Do you remember when we first met?"

Rezo nodded.  "Of course.  It's been three months two weeks, and four days."  He smiled and put his arm around Anita's shoulder.  "Not that I've been keeping track or anything."

Anita smiled.  It seemed like he wasn't feeling as bad as she thought.  "You told me that you were just passing through on your way to the village."  

"That's right."

Anita turned and kissed him on the cheek.  "Why'd you stay?"

Rezo watched the trees sway in the wind for a moment.  "I really love the scenery."  He held up his hands defensively when Anita glared at him.  "Don't hurt me.  I was only joking.  Besides, I did end up going to the village."  He shrugged.  "I just happened to come back here afterwards."

"Why?"

Rezo gazed into her eyes.  He whispered, "You reminded me of someone.  Someone that I was very close to a long time ago."  He sighed.  "It doesn't matter though.  It's all in the past.  The only thing that really matters is here and now."

"Those that forget the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.  Father told me that once."

"Your father says a lot of things Anita", Rezo muttered.  He thought back to the night he had arrived.  Anita knew that he was different, but Don had somehow known that he was a chimera.  He shook his head irritably.  He wasn't a chimera though.  This body was given to him by Ceiphied, wasn't it?  His head began to ache.  Why did everything have to be so confusing?

Anita giggled oblivious to Rezo's growing discomfort.  "He does, doesn't he?  But, I can see his point.  I mean, how can you know where you're going if you don't know where you've been?"  She shook her head and sighed.  "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I wish that you would tell me a little more about yourself."

"I told you that I've been a priest for a few years now", was Rezo's cold response.  

Anita began to feel irritated.  "I know that.  That's all you ever tell me.  What were you like as a child?  Did you always want to be a priest?"  She thought for a second.  "Who were your parents?  Are they still around?"

Zelgadis eyes narrowed.  He gritted his teeth and hissed, "Rezo…"  He picked a stone up off the ground and crushed it to powder.  "Rezo was my only family.  But…"  He closed his eyes and shuddered.

Rezo sighed shakily and continued, "…that's not important.  Anita, can we please drop the subject?"  

Anita muttered, "Rezo.  You didn't like him?  Was he your father?"

"Grandfather", was Rezo's terse reply.  He massaged his temples and struggled to sort his thoughts out.  Was he Rezo or did he hate him?  He muttered, "Not Rezo… Zelgadis.  I hate Zelgadis."

Anita caught the last bit.  "Zelgadis?  Who's that?"

Rezo snapped at Anita, "Never mention that name to me."  He quickly stood and stormed off towards the shed.  He called over his shoulder, "I'm sorry Anita.  I'm not feeling well.  I think I might lie down for a while."

Anita looked worried as she called after Rezo.  "Do you need anything?  I could make you some food or something…"  The sound of the shed door slamming shut was the only response that she received.  Fighting back tears, she ran into the house.

"Damn it!" Rezo bellowed as he swept a bunch of farming tools off the wall.  He fell to his knees, his head feeling as if it were about to split in two.  "What's wrong with me?!"

Zelgadis snarled, "You betrayed her!  You made me betray her!"  He clawed at his face, leaving superficial cuts that immediately began to close.  He sobbed, "Amelia, I'm so sorry…"

Rezo slammed his fist down on the floor, splintering the wood.  "Damn you!  What do you want?"

Zelgadis clutched at his crimson robes meaning to shred them, but Rezo was able to stop him.  "You know who I am.  I want my life back Rezo!"

Rezo frowned, staring at a point a few feet in front of him.  A figure in a hooded white cloak stood before him.  "You're the demonic swordsman the old man talked about."

Zelgadis frowned under his hood and spoke more calmly.  "Give me my body back.  That's all I ask for."

"Your' body, demon?  I think I'll keep my body to myself, thank you very much."  Rezo struggled to his feet and stood face to hidden face with Zelgadis.  "You spread misery like a disease.  You're pointless."

Zelgadis grabbed the front of Rezo's robes.  "I may be pointless, but you are a lie!  Give me back my life!"

Rezo grinned wickedly.  "Even if I am a lie, and that's not an admission, I think my life still has more meaning than yours.  I have love, purpose, and happiness.  What do you have to live for demon?"

Zelgadis's shoulders slumped momentarily.  "I…"

Rezo nodded.  "Just as I thought.  You have nothing."

Zelgadis shook his head.  "No!"  He reached into his pocket and rummaged around for something.  "I have my promise.  See?"  

Rezo's eyes widened in terror when he saw what Zelgadis held.  A small locket glittered in his hand.  He looked down and was shocked to see that he held an identical locket.  To his growing horror, he began to open it.  "I don't want to see this!  You can't make me see this!"  He closed his eyes tightly.

Zelgadis snarled.  "Look, damn you!  Look at Amelia!  I loved her!"  He growled, "And you made me betray her memory!"

"A dead lover?"  Rezo snapped the locket shut and opened his eyes.  "You want to live for a dead lover?!"  His mocking laughter rang out in the shed.  "Utterly pathetic."  He began to apply pressure to the locket.

Zelgadis gasped in shock.  "What are you doing?  Stop!"

Rezo just grinned as he continued to squeeze the metal.  He could feel it beginning to buckle.  "A lie, am I?  A lie?!"  He looked on in triumph as the cloaked figure fell to his knees trying to resist crushing his own locket.

"Please don't take this from me." Zelgadis pleaded.  He continued to crush the locket.  "Please?!  Please?!"  He suddenly felt the pressure on his hand slacken.  His hand flew open to reveal a sad ruin of twisted metal that had been Emily's gift to him.  He sobbed, "But, I promised Emily…  I told her I'd give it back."

Rezo sighed in relief.  He had triumphed.  "Well I guess you lied, didn't you?  Depart and never trouble me again demon."

Zelgadis wept loudly cupping the ruined locket in his hands.  "You took it from me.  You took everything that I am!"

"Then you were nothing.  Depart I say!"  Rezo watched as Zelgadis faded from sight.  Then blackness came over him.

************************************************************************

Rezo opened his eyes several hours later to see that night had fallen.  He quickly scrambled to his feet and glared around the shed looking for the sorcerer swordsman.  He was alone.  "A dream?" he mused.  "Or perhaps some sort of premonition?"  This would be worth studying.

A noise from outside the shed interrupted Rezo's thoughts.  Cautiously opening the door, he looked up at the sky.  He thought that it must be about midnight based on the position of the moon.  He stepped out of the doorway and moved towards the noise.  It sounded like something heavy was being dragged along the ground.  Rounding a tree, he saw a large shadowy figure moving deeper into the forest.  It seemed to be carrying some burden.  He moved towards the figure warily, trying to discern his identity.

The snap of a twig under Rezo's foot split the silence of the night.

The figure dropped its burden and peered into the darkness.  He tried to call out and whisper at the same time.  "Hey, anybody there?"

Rezo looked down on the figure from his new position on a tree limb twenty feet in the air.  He muttered, "Don?"  The voice confirmed his suspicions.  It was Don and he was carrying something heavy in a large canvas sack if Rezo wasn't mistaken.  He whispered, "Don, what are you up to?"  He looked up at the dark sky again.  "And so late at night no less?"  He was about to follow Don into the forest when he had a thought.  It was none of his business.  Healing the sick was his business, not prying into the lives of those who had taken him in.  "Besides," he muttered, "it's probably some dead livestock or something."  He nodded and turned back towards the cabin, abandoning his pursuit.

In the darkness behind him, Don continued on his path into the night…

************************************************************************

The next morning Rezo was in town bright and early planning to buy some supplies for the farm.  He had just entered the feed store planning to purchase some seeds for the new planting season when a voice called out to him.

"Mr. Rezo?"

Rezo turned to see a man in a yellow headband.  "Ryoga, right?"

Ryoga nodded.  "That's right.  Have you seen my grandfather?  He said he was going to play chess at the store yesterday, and that was the last I saw of him."

Rezo scowled.  "He's missing then?"

"Yes sir.  You haven't seen him have you?"

Rezo shook his head.  "No.  I'm sorry, but I will keep an eye out for him."

"Thank you.  I hope he didn't wander off into the woods.  He doesn't really have a good sense of direction, you know."

"So I've heard.  Well, good luck in your search."  Rezo turned and entered the store.  He moved down the wall looking dubiously at the different seeds.  "Cucumbers, carrots, radishes.  I don't know the first thing about this stuff."  He called up to the old man dozing behind the counter.  "Hey, Bill."  

The old man behind the counter continued to doze, oblivious to Rezo's voice.  

Rezo rolled his eyes and yelled, "Bill!"  

Bill almost fell off his stool.  "Whazzit?"

"Sorry about that, Bill.  I was in the area and thought that I'd pick up some seeds for the farm.  What kind of stuff does Don plant?"

Bill blinked drowsily.  "Oh, that you Mr. Rezo?"  He stood up and popped his back noisily.  "I don't rightly remember.  It's been so long since he came in.  Cucumbers, maybe?  Yeah, end of the row there, Rezo.  That's them."  

Rezo picked up a small bag and carried it up to the counter.

"That'll be four silvers there, Mr. Rezo."  Bill sighed as he made change for the priest.  "Terrible thing isn't it?"

"What's that, Bill?"

Bill nodded towards the window.  Out in the street, Ryoga was asking anyone that would listen about his grandfather.  "That poor old man.  Probably wandered off into the forest and got lost.  I don't reckon they'll ever find him."

"Why's that?" Rezo asked as he put his change away.

"Wolves.  Mean creatures, you know?"  Bill shook his head and sighed.  "I don't think an old man would stand much chance against them."

"Wolves, huh?"  Rezo recalled his encounter with the wolves of the area.  He had saved Anita from a pack of them several months ago.

"Yeah, I reckon you have more than a passing familiarity with them.  Saved Don's daughter from them, didn't you?  Nasty business that must've been, eh?"

Rezo muttered, "Nothing I couldn't handle Bill.  Thanks for the seeds."  He turned to leave.  

Bill called after him.  "Not that it's any of my business, Mr. Rezo, but is it true that you've been courtin' Don's daughter?"

"You're right Bill.  It isn't your business."  Rezo sighed, "But yes, I have been seeing Miss Anita.  What of it?"

Bill shook his head quickly.  "Nothing about her really, Mr. Rezo.  I hope the two of you are happy together."  He looked around nervously before continuing.  "But Don?  He's something of an odd fellow isn't he?  No offense of course.  You are staying with them right?"

"That's right."  Rezo paused, wanting to leave.  He didn't want to know why Don was an 'odd fellow', did he?  All he cared about was being with Anita.  After a moment, he asked, "What's so odd about him?  He seems nice enough to me."  Briefly, he recalled Don dragging the canvas bag through the woods in the middle of the night.

"Oh, he's nice enough, I suppose.  Never bought much until you came around.  I wonder, what did he grow out there before?  He's a farmer but he never bought any seed.  Not from me, anyway.  I reckon he could have bought some from out of town, but why bother?  I've got pretty much anything that'll grow around these parts."  Bill pulled a pair of spectacles out of his pocket and began to wipe them on his shirt.  "Why do you reckon he did that?"

Rezo sighed.  "I really couldn't tell you, Bill.  Good day."  He turned to leave again, expecting the conversation to be over.

However, Bill apparently couldn't take a hint.  "That's not all though.  Rumor is that he's out here because of something he did up around Atlas City.  I don't know if that's true, but it's kind of strange for a man to pick up and move a couple hundred miles for no reason, don't you think?"  He chuckled.  "Well, I'm sure you're tired of listening to wild stories."  He waved cheerily as Rezo walked out the door.  "Don't be a stranger, now.  

Rezo gave Bill a halfhearted wave fully intending to find someone else to buy his farming supplies from in the future.  He found Bill to be somewhat upsetting for some reason.  

************************************************************************

"Anita?"  Rezo knocked on the door before cautiously poking his head into the cabin.  "Are you here?"  He saw her sitting at the table, staring out the window with an unreadable expression on her face.  "Can I come in?"

"I suppose." Anita sighed.  

Rezo sat down beside her and, after a moment's hesitation, took her hand and kissed it.  "I'm sorry.  I overreacted yesterday."

Anita forced a small smile.  "It's alright.  I shouldn't have pried into your personal life.  It's not really any of my business."

Rezo shook his head.  "No, I want to share everything with you.  It's just that…"  He tried to remember.  He remembered fighting in Sairaag against a fiery haired sorceress.  Inverse he assumed.  Then darkness.  Then he woke up in the forest.  He saved that man's life.  There was a gap of almost a century in his memory.  There was something wrong with that and he was sure that the sorcerer swordsman had something to do with it.  "…it feels like I don't know myself sometimes."

"Is there anything I can do?"  Anita squeezed Rezo's hand reassuringly.  "I'd like to help you."

Rezo nodded.  "Thank you, but I think that this is something I have to deal with myself."  He stood and picked up his supplies.  "I'm glad you're not too angry.  I was a little worried."

"Well, you should be."  Anita tried to look stern, but failed miserably, bursting out in a fit of giggles.  "I guess I forgive you."

Rezo smiled.  "That's a relief."  His grin faded as he remembered Bill's words.  "Anita?  I got cucumbers.  Is that what your father usually plants?"

Anita looked confused for a moment.  "I'm not really sure Rezo.  You'll have to ask him.  He does the planting and harvesting.  He won't let me help him.  I just do the housework mostly."

Rezo shook his head.  "You mean he runs a fully functioning farm on his own?  It must be rough."  He thought back to Don's hands.  Not a callus on them.  He wasn't a farmer.  There had to be something more to this.  "I don't want to know this", he muttered.

"But I do", was Zelgadis's whispered reply.  "Ask the questions, Rezo."

Anita was working on the cooking fire and didn't hear Rezo's dialogue with himself.  "Yeah, but father's a hard worker you know.  He goes out at dawn and doesn't come back until well after dark."

"He's a good man, Anita.  Rezo muttered, "And a miraculous farmer to be able to grow crops in the forest with no seeds."  Rezo sat back down at the table and stroked his chin thoughtfully.  "How did you come to live in such a remote area, anyway?"

Anita frowned.  "We like the peace.  Father… was not a popular man where we came from.  He was treated horribly."

"Oh, really?  Where did you come from, Anita?"  Rezo struggled to drop the subject, but Zelgadis would not be denied.  He suspected something terrible and he had to know the truth.

"Atlas City.  I was just a little girl when we left.  The people ran us out soon after my mother died.  Father said that it was because they were jealous of his work."  She sighed.  "Some people are so close minded."

Rezo shuddered, dreading the answer to his next question.  "What was his work, Anita?"

Anita smiled innocently.  "Magical research.  Father was a powerful sorcerer."

************************************************************************

Rezo sat in the highest branches of a tree, hidden by the shadows.  He glanced up at the moon.  He muttered, "This means nothing you know.  Absolutely nothing.  I think I'll go back to bed."  He willed himself to move towards the ground, but he remained as immobile as stone.  He sighed and muttered, "If he doesn't show up we never mention this again, agreed?"

Silence was his only response.

Rezo shook his head.  There was something guiding his actions on this night.  Was it fate?  Or that swordsman from his dreams?  He decided that if Don didn't show up in the next ten minutes, he was going back to bed.  This was pretty stupid after all.  Movement caught his eye.  Glancing down into the darkness, he saw a large figure stealthily exit the cabin.

It was Don.  He looked around nervously before approaching the shed.  He quietly opened the door and glanced inside.  He rummaged around for something briefly before quietly shutting the door again.  Looking quite pleased with himself, he quickly darted into the forest.

Rezo leapt silently from tree to tree, following Don quite easily.  "Damn it Don," he muttered, "why couldn't you have taken the night off?"

************************************************************************

Inside the house, Anita awoke when she heard the shed door shut.  She looked out the window and saw Don disappearing into the forest.  "Father?"  Sensing that something was amiss, she quickly dressed and slipped out into the night.

************************************************************************

Rezo watched as Don came to a clearing in the forest.  Sensing that the pursuit was almost over, he leapt down into the underbrush silently.

Don glanced around again, before walking over to a large stone in the middle of the clearing.  It looked as if it weighed several hundred pounds, but Don put his shoulder against it and slowly moved it to reveal a set of stairs set into the earth.  He quickly descended the stairs and vanished into darkness.

Rezo sighed.  "Curious.  Well, there's no turning back now, I suppose."  Saying this, he crept out of his hiding place and slipped over to the top of the stairs.  He glanced down the passage, ready to bolt at the first sign of Don, but he only saw a couple of flickering torches lining the stairs.  Cool air blew against his face.  He sniffed the stale air and muttered, "Quite a ways down.  What ever are you doing, Don?"  He quietly moved down the staircase.

Rezo was wrong.  It wasn't quite as far down as he had first thought.  He stepped out of the passage into a laboratory.  Heavy tables along the walls contained all sorts of magical ingredients.  They were all neatly labeled and organized, a far cry from Rezo's old lab.  Something shiny caught the chimera's eye.  "What have we here?"  He walked over to one of the tables and picked up a metal thread.  His eyes narrowed when he realized what it was.  It was hair.  One of his hairs.  He shuddered and glanced at a door on the far wall.  He knew what he would find there now.  The hair confirmed it.

Rezo shook his head and walked towards the door.  He muttered, "I don't want to do this."  He continued on though.  He put his hand on the doorknob and held it for a moment.  Taking a deep breath, he quietly opened the door.  The strong smell of alcohol wafted from within.  The new room was much darker, but he still recognized what was within it.

A large cylinder full of a strange green solution stood in the center of the room.  Floating within the solution was a figure.  It was the old man that had gone missing.

Rezo walked up to the tube and put his hand on its cool surface.  "Damn you, Don.  Damn you.  Why did you do this?"  He was surprised to note that he was thinking about Anita.  The real injustice of the situation was that this would complicate things with Anita.  Maybe if he just talked it over with Don…

Zelgadis snarled, "You self centered bastard!"  He looked into the tube.  The old man was alive.  His wrinkled flesh had smooth spots on it, almost as if something were growing just under the skin.  Zelgadis looked at his own stony hand.  That was it.  The old man's flesh was slowly becoming pebbly like his own.  He looked at the new chimera's hair.  Among the thin white hairs floating in the solution, several wiry hairs stuck out of his skull.  

Don had used Zelgadis's hair to create this monstrosity.  He had used Zelgadis's own curse to inflict this horror on another human being.

"It's lovely isn't it?"

Zelgadis stared at the tube, trying to curb the desire to rip Don's head off his shoulders.  As he watched, a large eye in the old man's torso opened and looked at him.  He growled, "You bastard.  You used me to ruin this man's life."  He heard Don take a step back.

"How can you say that?  His life was nothing but pain.  I fixed him.  Improved him even."

Zelgadis turned around, gritting his teeth.  "Improved?!"  He clenched his fists, his fingernails piercing the hard skin of his palms.

Don rolled his eyes.  "You're one of them, aren't you?  I thought you would understand, having such a gift yourself, but you obviously can't see my vision.  I'm perfecting humanity.  Why can't you understand that?"

Zelgadis was upon Don in an instant.  He grabbed the larger man's upper arms and squeezed them, effortlessly crushing bone.  He shouted, "Perfecting humanity?!"  He punched Don in the face, shattering his lower jaw.  "Perfecting humanity?!"  He shook Don violently as if expecting some response from him.  

Don just screamed incoherently.

"You think this is a gift?!"  Zelgadis lifted Don off the ground by his throat.  He began to crush his windpipe.  "Let me show you the benefits of my 'gift", he snarled.

"Rezo stop!"

Zelgadis glanced over his shoulder to see Anita standing in the doorway, a look of horror on her face.  His head began to ache.  "No, not now!"

Rezo loosened his grip on Don's throat.  He looked at Anita, trying to figure out what they were doing here.  "Where are we, Anita?  I can't remember."

Anita spoke slowly and calmly.  "Rezo, please release my father.  He needs help.  Let me help him, okay?"  She took a cautious step towards Rezo.  "Please?"

"No!" Zelgadis snarled.  "There's no help for him.  He's an evil man, Anita."  He began to apply more pressure to Don's throat again.

"Please, let him go Rezo!"  Anita put a hand on the chimera's arm.

Zelgadis shook his head violently.  "Don't call me that!  My name is Zelgadis!"

Rezo's confused expression returned briefly.  "Anita?  I can't stop him.  Help me stop him!"

Zelgadis gave Don's neck a violent twist, snapping his spine.  He tossed the body aside like so much garbage and turned to Anita.

Rezo's expression returned.  "What happened Anita?  Did I stop him?"  He looked down at the crumpled form of Don.  He whispered, "By Ceiphied…"  He turned to Anita and grabbed her arm.

Anita shrieked and slapped Rezo.  "Don't touch me, you monster!"  She knelt next to her father's body and began to quietly weep.  She glared at Rezo with such hatred that he took an involuntary step back.  "I hate you."

Rezo shook his head.  "Anita, you don't understand!  I tried-"

"Get out of here!" she shrieked at him.  "You killed my father!"  She turned back to Don's body and broke down completely.

Rezo tried to apologize, but couldn't find the words to do so.  Instead, he quietly slunk out of the laboratory, and out of Anita's life forever.  His self-pity turned to anger as he walked through the moonlit forest.  He hissed, "Zelgadis."  The priest's compassion for humanity had turned into blinding hatred for the sorcerer swordsman.  "I will find you.  I'll make you pay."  The shadow's engulfed the priest and in a moment, the forest was utterly still again.

And the months passed…

************************************************************************

Next Chapter:  Rezo meets a fallen prince…

Notes:  One more down.  Maybe two or possibly three more to go.  Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter.  I hope the Rezgadis bits came out okay.  I tried to make them different.  Zel's just Zel, while Rezo cares only for his own happiness.  

Review Responses:

Anita, thanks for your, um, extremely enthusiastic response!  You scare me sometimes, you know that?

Linagabriev, you didn't know that Lina drank the blood of virgins?  It was mentioned in one of the episodes.  Don't ask which one.  Okay, maybe it wasn't.  Thanks for the questions.

CT, thanks for sticking with the story.  You've seen the end of Anita's part in the story.  Regarding Christopher and Phillionel, some questions will be answered in the next chapter.  Regarding the name of Rezo, Zelgadis's grandfather was such a strong influence upon him, in addition to the fact that he was wearing his robes and reading his journal, it just made sense for him to call himself Rezo.

Hikari, I tried to send you another mail at none@screwedupserver.com and you still didn't answer!  Are you snubbing me?  Just kidding!  You could always get a hotmail account I guess.  And yes, Zel is a schitzo.  I'll bet you loved this chapter, huh?

K.R.P., thanks for the interest in the story.  Did you read the first one?

Mats Forsen, thanks for the compliment.  I will finish this pretty soon.

'Til next time!


	7. Picking up the pieces

A gentle breeze blew through the waist deep wheat causing it to rustle quietly.  Aside from that and a bird singing happily in the distance, nothing disturbed the silence of the gorgeous spring day.

For this, Rezo was grateful.  Walking through the field he was free to explore his thoughts without interruption.  Something was terribly wrong with him.  When he slept, his dreams were filled with images of Zelgadis.  The sorcerer swordsman's hood was always up, hiding his features from the priest, but in every dream the swordsman came closer to revealing his identity.  Just last night the figure had actually grabbed his hood before Rezo had awakened from the nightmare.  

"Why does he torment me so?"  Rezo thought back to Anita.  Zelgadis had killed her father, right in front of him, despite his best efforts to stop him.  His stony brow was furrowed in thought.  He muttered to himself, "Perhaps fate has linked the two of us together.  Or maybe it's some omen?"  He shook his head.  If it was an omen, he had absolutely no idea of what Ceiphied was trying to tell him.  Maybe it was some further punishment for his crimes.

Ceiphied had justly rewarded Rezo for his misdeeds with the form that he now possessed.  He bluish flesh was harder than stone and his hair was like razors.  But now, his eyes were open and he hoped that one day Ceiphied would see fit to return him to normal.

Rezo paused for a moment and looked up at the cerulean sky with a wistful smile on his face.  It would be a shame to waste such a beautiful day dwelling on dark omens and mysterious swordsmen.  He continued on his journey, pushing his dark thoughts to the back of his mind.  There would be time to figure them out later.  Right now he had to make it to the next village before dark.

"Hey!"  An angry voice called out to Rezo across the field.  "What are you doing on my property?"  A middle-aged woman with dark hair and a darker expression ran up to Rezo.  

Rezo bowed low to the woman.  He spoke quietly and contritely.  "You have my sincerest apologies, madam."

The woman's expression softened immediately when she recognized the scarlet robes.  "You're Rezo."  Her voice was full of awe.  "Rezo the Red Priest!  I'm sorry, sir.  I didn't recognize you at first."

 Rezo smiled, feeling somewhat embarrassed.  Apparently, word of his deeds had spread far and wide.  "No apology is necessary.  It really was my fault for wandering through your field."  He looked around, not recognizing the scenery.  "I must admit that I am a little lost.  Could you possibly direct me to the nearest village?"

"Certainly lord!"

Rezo quietly sighed in annoyance.  His reputation was a source of never ending frustration for him.  Now he was being called "lord" of all things.  Why couldn't the people understand that he wasn't nobility?  He was merely a servant of the greater good.  He turned his attention back to the woman, who was now rambling on about something or other.

"…and then you pass through the ruins of Cruso.  After you reach the crossroads, you…"

Rezo's eyes widened in shock.  That name was familiar.  He associated it with pain and guilt.  But why?  He cleared his throat.  "I beg your pardon, madam.  What village did you say?"

The woman was momentarily taken aback by the interruption.  "Oh, Peach Grove.  It's not really a village.  More of a wide spot in the road really…"

Rezo shook his head impatiently.  He snapped at the woman.  "No, before that!  You said something about a Cruso."  He watched her intently, waiting for her response.

The woman took an involuntary step back.  Something had changed.  The priest's eyes, which had seemed friendly before, now held a more predatory look.  She shook her head nervously.  "Cruso?  There's nothing there, lord.  Burned down forty years ago."

Rezo lowered his voice and forced a smile back onto his face.  "What happened?"

"You have to understand, lord.  People like to talk.  There are all sorts of outrageous stories."

Rezo waved impatiently.  "Yes, yes, I understand.  What is this particular story?"

"Well lord, the story goes that a demonic swordsman from hell came to claim the village."

Rezo whispered, "A swordsman?  Was it you, Zelgadis?"  An image of the mysterious warrior in his dreams came to him.  He shuddered slightly.

The woman continued on unaware of the chimera's discomfort.  "The only ones to survive were that Inverse woman and her daughter.  The girl ended up becoming queen.  Isn't that something?"  She crossed her arms and scowled.  "Her mother was a different matter entirely.  Nothing but trouble.  If you ask me, Inverse was probably the one who destroyed the village.  She was a violent woman.  She's probably dead now, and good riddance."

Inverse?  Rezo felt rage well up inside of him.  Somehow, this woman kept bringing up unpleasant things.  He took a step towards her and hissed through clenched teeth.  "It's not polite to speak ill of the dead."  He was growing weary of talking to this disrespectful twit.  He pointed off in the distance.  "You said the ruins are that way?"  He was trembling with anger.

The woman nodded mutely, terrified of the priest looming over her.  "Begging your pardon, lord.  I didn't mean to offend…"

Without wasting another word on the cowering woman, Rezo turned and strode off in the direction of Cruso.  All thought of reaching the next village was blotted out by the desire to learn what Cruso meant to him.  Answers.  He was certain that Zelgadis was involved with this somehow.  Slowly at first, but steadily increasing in speed, the chimera moved down the road.  After a few minutes, he appeared to be nothing but a red blur to onlookers.

Within ten minutes, the chimera was standing amidst the ruins of Cruso.  Looking around he shook his head and frowned.  All around were the graves of the villagers.  "What a horrible waste of life."  Moving over to the nearest grave, he knelt and said a small prayer.  He didn't know why he did it.  Something inside of him was crying out for redemption.

Something glinted off in the distance, apart from the other graves. 

Curious, Rezo made his way over to the object.  It was a marker.  The other graves had been marked with stones, but this one actually had writing upon it.  "Someone really loved you, my friend."  He knelt down and pulled away some weeds that were obscuring the letters.  He read the faint inscription and gasped.

            _Gourry Gabriev.  Heir to the Swordsman of Light.  Loving husband and _

_            father._

Underneath this, the inscription continued in clearer letters.  Apparently, these words had been inscribed far more recently.

            _Lina Inverse.  Sorceress First Class.  Loving wife and mother._

Rezo traced the letters with his finger, trying to learn their secret.  Why did he know these names?  Gourry and Lina.  Two of the heroes involved in the battle at Sairaag.  They were his enemies.  But if that was true, then why did he feel a bond with them?  No, that wasn't right.  Not enemies.  They were… friends?  He spoke quietly, "I know you both."  He leaned down and kissed the grave marker of the two familiar strangers before muttering a prayer.

"Rezo?"  A questioning voice came from behind the priest.

Rezo didn't look up from his prayer.  "Please, let me be."  He continued to reflect on the identities of the two until the voice spoke again.

"No, you're not Rezo…  Zelgadis?"

Rezo's eyes flew open and he whirled around to face the voice.  "Who the devil are you?"  He tried to sound angry, but he couldn't hide the fear in his voice.  It was like the voice had attacked him instead of speaking a name.

Standing a few feet away, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed was a young man clad in ragged black clothing and a dirty gray cape.  He regarded the priest coolly with icy blue eyes that were partially hidden by unruly dark hair.  Several days worth of stubble on the man's face made him look older than he probably was.  He smirked and spoke again.  "Oh joy.  I was searching for the Red Priest of legend and I find my dear 'Uncle' instead."  He shook his head and sighed, "Life is full of little disappointments."

Rezo leapt to his feet and assumed a defensive stance.  He felt confused and frightened by this man.  There was some dangerous secret here.  "What devilry is this?  What is your name?  Speak!"

The man looked at him with a mixture of confusion and cruel mirth on his face.  "Excuse me?  You know my name Uncle.  Are you feeling alright?"  Seeing that the priest wasn't going to answer he sighed.  "Christopher William Seyruun."  Seeing no sign of recognition on the chimera's face, he scowled.  "Phillionel and Emily's youngest son?  Have you gone senile, Uncle?"

Rezo took a step back.  For some reason, he sensed incredible danger.  This man's words were confusing him terribly.  Suddenly, he realized what was happening.  This man was working some sort of spell upon him.  He smiled.  "An excellent attempt my young friend, but you'd be wise not to underestimate me."  He darted at Christopher.

"Wha-?"  Christopher barely had time to blink before Zelgadis slammed into him throwing him violently onto his back.  Glaring up at the chimera looming over him, he clutched his side.  Based on the stabbing pain, it was safe to assume that a couple of his ribs were broken.  It would be easy enough to heal, assuming the Red Priest didn't kill him first.  He scrambled backwards trying to buy himself some time.  He hastily spoke, "Wait!  You really don't recognize me?"

Rezo's head was swimming and it was hard to understand what the fallen prince was saying.  He clutched his skull in agony as answers he shouldn't have known came bubbling to the surface.  How did he know that Christopher was a prince?  Why did he know Emily and Phillionel?  "Phil", he corrected himself.  "I called him Phil."

Christopher saw a range of emotions run across the chimera's face.  Fear, anger, confusion, and comprehension.  He grimaced.  "Oh hell."  It looked like Zelgadis had settled on anger.  Christopher gritted his teeth as the priest reached for him.

Rezo snatched Christopher up by the front of his cloak with no effort at all.  He squeezed his throat and growled, "What have you done to me?!"  He shook the younger man by the throat.  "Answer me!"

Christopher grunted in pain as his broken ribs shifted.  He struggled futilely to loosen Zelgadis's vice like grip on his throat.  He managed to rasp out a couple of words.  "What… are you… talking about… Zelgadis?"  Blackness was closing in at the corners of his vision and he tasted the coppery flavor of his own blood in his mouth.  

That name again!  "Zelgadis…"  Rezo loosened his grip slightly.  "Zelgadis."  He repeated the name several more times, before turning his attention back to Christopher.  "Where is he?  Where is Zelgadis?!"

Christopher felt Zelgadis's grip slacken slightly when he mentioned his name.  After careful consideration, he came to the conclusion that the chimera had finally gone off the deep end.  He channeled chaotic energy into his hand while Zelgadis was talking to himself.  When he finally addressed Christopher again, he received a spell to the face.

"Flare Arrow!"  Christopher shoved the shaft of energy into Zelgadis's face with all his remaining strength.  He was blown free of the chimera's grasp and saw stars for a moment when he slammed back first into a nearby tree.  He dropped to his knees and coughed violently, expelling copious amounts of saliva and blood.  He muttered, "Crazy.  He was crazy."  He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he looked at the priest.  He was still standing.  "Now what?" he mumbled.

Rezo was clutching his face in agony.  "I'm blind!  The bastard blinded me!"  The memory of his life before Shabranigdo had cured his eyes sprang into his mind.  He screamed, remembering the frustration and anger that had haunted him for years.  

Sensing his chance, Zelgadis took advantage of Rezo's terror.  "Don't panic.  We'll be fine in a minute."  Already his vision had gone from black to a blurry gray.  "This is nothing."

Rezo felt himself violently usurped from control of his body.  "Zelgadis?"  He recognized the voice from his dreams.  He couldn't see yet, but somehow he knew that the swordsman was standing before him again.  He put his hands up defensively.  "Wait!  Wait, damn it!"  

"I knew you'd try to find me, Rezo.  You shouldn't seek knowledge you aren't ready to understand."  The swordsman flung his hood back to reveal the smiling face of Zelgadis Greywords.  

Rezo gasped in shock.  "You're me?!  No this is some sort of trick!  You're not me!"  It all made sense.  Knowing things that he shouldn't.  The memories of friends that he didn't have.  The periods of time that he couldn't remember anything.  Yes!  It all made perfect sense!  He pointed at Zelgadis and laughed hysterically.  "That's it!  I'm possessed!  You're secret is out demon!  I just need to find a priest and…  Wait a second, I am a priest!"  He laughed again before looking at Zelgadis, uncertainty playing across his face.  He whispered,  "Aren't I?"

Zelgadis's mocking laughter silenced the priest.  "Is that really the best you can come up with?  No more lies, Rezo.  I don't need them anymore."  He drew his sword and effortlessly sliced the priest from his left hip to his right shoulder.

Rezo screamed as he evaporated like mist in the morning sun.

Christopher watched Zelgadis with a great deal of interest.  His conversation with himself was somewhat interesting, but what really seized the prince's attention was the chimera's face.  It had grown back from a blackened ruin to perfection in a matter of moments.  He grinned wickedly.  How utterly marvelous.

Shaking his head, Zelgadis stood.  It felt as if he had been asleep for an eternity.  He looked around with his newly regenerated eyes and sighed as he recognized his location.  "Cruso, huh?  Is that what it took?"  He looked down at Christopher who was struggling to his feet.  "What are you doing here?"

Christopher hissed in pain as he worked a Recovery spell on his injured ribs.  "I came to seek out the Red Priest."  He gave Zelgadis a look of contempt.  "Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that it was only my delusional 'Uncle."  He spat blood into the grass and massaged his bruised throat.

Zelgadis growled, "I don't have the patience to deal with your cynicism right now.  Just answer my questions.  How long have I been gone?"

"You mean from Seyruun?"  Christopher shrugged.  "I don't know.  About five years I guess."

Zelgadis whispered, "Five years?"  He staggered back a few steps, almost losing his balance.  "That means that I've been asleep for three years?"  He remembered Rezo's mansion and then… nothing.  "There are so many questions that need answering."

Christopher raised an eyebrow.  "Asleep' Uncle?"

"I dreamed."  Zelgadis reached into his pocket and pulled out the remains of the locket Rezo had destroyed.  He shook his head sadly.  "It wasn't all a dream was it?  That means…"  He glanced at Christopher.  "Your father?"

"Dead."  Christopher sighed.  "Dead for almost a year now.  I'm terribly sorry, Uncle.  I know that the two of you were close friends."

"And Emily?"  Zelgadis closed his eyes and remembered the last time he had been in the kingdom of Seyruun.  He recalled the minor spat between Phil and Emily in the study.  Despite her irritation, Zelgadis had sensed that Emily loved Phil more than life itself.  Just as he had loved Amelia.  To be torn away from that…  He had to return home.  He finally understood.  Home and happiness were in Seyruun where people loved him.  He snapped, "Your mother, Christopher.  How is your mother?"

Christopher's looked angry for an instant before he slipped on a sad expression.  "Dying, I believe.  When father was murdered, it was like a part of her died with him."

Zelgadis saw the moment of resentment on Christopher's face and filed it away for later scrutiny.  He growled, "And you left the palace.  I'm sure Emily felt a lot better knowing that her children were so willing to abandon her in her time of greatest need."

"You bastard!" Christopher spat.  "I couldn't stand to watch my mother waste away!  I knew that it was hard for her.  She took father's death worse than anyone.  But, do you think it was easy for me?  Everyone tried to console mother.  I'm no good at that."  He glared at Zelgadis.  "As you put it, I'm too 'cynical' to bring comfort to anyone."

Zelgadis sighed.  "I'm… sorry, Christopher.  It must have been hard."  He thought for a moment.  "You say Phil was murdered.  What happened?"

"An assassin.  Father was in his study late one night when the assailant slipped in and…"  Christopher frowned.  "Well, we found him the next morning.  The guards saw nothing.  There were no clues.  Father's killer was never brought to justice."

"I see."  Zelgadis looked down for a moment and pondered.  "I have to go to her."

Christopher nodded.  "She'd probably appreciate that, Uncle.  Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

Zelgadis raised an eyebrow.

Christopher nodded at his robes.  "Why the red robes?  Are you really the Rezo that everyone has been talking about?"

"Rezo's dead," Zelgadis quickly answered. "He's been dead for almost a century.  What you heard was… a mistake."

Christopher nodded, a suspicious look on his face.  He sighed, "I suppose you're right.  Rumors spread quickly in these sad times.  The people look for any sign of hope, even if it's a false hope."

"Sad times', Christopher?" Zelgadis asked.  "What else has happened since I was away?"  He walked over to a nearby tree and sat down in the shade.

Christopher joined him a moment later.  "Father's death was only the beginning of Seyruun's troubles.  Almost immediately after his funeral, there were calls from the nobles for my mother to abdicate the throne."

"Why?"

Christopher sighed, "She's a common girl, Uncle.  Never in our kingdom's illustrious history has someone who was not of noble blood ruled.  Even when my great grandfather, Phillionel I, married a commoner for love the nobles begrudgingly accepted it because he was still in control."

Zelgadis nodded and muttered, "I see.  And what do the commoners think?"

Christopher eyed Zelgadis quizzically.  He snorted, "The commoners?"  

Zelgadis nodded.

Christopher shrugged, "Not that it matters, but they support my mother.  After all, she is one of them.  It's a volatile situation.  The nobles are on one side, supporting my Uncle Gouren as the legitimate heir to the throne, while the commoners support mother and, should she decide to abdicate," he frowned angrily as he continued, "my brother Gourry."

"What does Gouren think of the situation?" Zelgadis asked.

"He's mother's biggest supporter.  The only reason he even tolerates the nobles' ideas is to avoid bloodshed."

Zelgadis shook his head and sighed, "Is Seyruun really that close to civil war?"

"Not only that Uncle.  The kingdoms around Seyruun have also sensed our weakness.  Specifically, the Elmekian Empire musters its forces on our border.  If this problem isn't resolved soon…" Christopher left his musing unfinished.

Zelgadis nodded and stood.  He sighed, "So the kingdom of Seyruun teeters on the edge of disaster and your mother suffers."  He extended a hand and pulled Christopher to his feet before continuing, "This doesn't make sense.  Emily told me that she was destined to live a long and happy life.  This…" he shook his head sadly and muttered, "This is wrong."

"Destiny, sir?" Christopher asked curiously.

"Lina, your grandmother, told Emily that she would live a long and happy life.  Lina heard this from the Lord of Nightmares herself.  I don't understand how your mother could be faced with such misery now."  Zelgadis looked up at the blue sky as if expecting answers from the Golden Lord herself.  He whispered, "Lina, what's going on?"

Christopher nodded slowly, not having the slightest idea what Zelgadis was muttering about.  "In any case Uncle, if you intend to go to Seyruun, I suggest you do so quickly.  There may not be a kingdom to return to if you waste too much time."  With that he climbed to he feet and stretched.  "I've wasted too much time myself," he said. "Goodbye Uncle.  I hope you find my mother well."  He turned and was about to leave when he felt Zelgadis's hand on his shoulder.

"Wait," Zelgadis commanded.  "If things are as bad as you say, why did you leave?  And why were you searching for the Red Priest?"

Christopher looked shaken.  His surprise turned to anger and he growled, "That's not really your concern, is it Uncle?  My business is my own.  Now if you'll excuse me?"  He shrugged Zelgadis's hand off and quickly walked down the road away from Cruso.

Zelgadis watched Christopher go with a thoughtful expression on his face.  The boy had been hiding something.  He'd sounded almost frightened by Zelgadis's inquiry.  Strange, but as he had said, it was none of Zelgadis's business.  He shrugged and turned his back on Christopher.  He had business of his own to attend to.

As Zelgadis started walking, he glanced down at his robes distastefully.  Five years he had been gone.  The thought was unnerving to say the least.  He resolved to find some normal clothes as soon as possible.  Strange as it may seem, Rezo's robes almost felt like they were haunted.

Zelgadis shuddered at that thought and almost imperceptibly quickened his pace.  He wasn't going to dwell on darkness any more.  He was going home.  A hesitant smile crossed his lips.  Home.  It sounded so wonderful.  He'd find Emily and help her set things right.  

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It took all of Christopher's willpower not to break into a run as he left Zelgadis behind.  That would have been especially suspicious wouldn't it?  Looking around and noting that he was alone, he broke away from the path and plunged into the underbrush lining the road.

"Power allows us to shape the world," Christopher muttered breathlessly as he made his way through the forest.  A wise man had told him that several years ago.  The man had also told him not to trust Zelgadis should he come across him.  The chimera wouldn't understand Christopher's ambitions.  He recalled what had inspired his mission.

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"But, even if you should come across him, he'll be too wrapped up in himself to bother with you," the voice had hissed from the alley.

Christopher leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and stared into the darkness.  "What am I to do?" he asked the voice.

There was a quiet shuffling noise and a spindly looking man scurried out of the alley into the light.  "It's time to take what is rightfully yours."

Christopher had recoiled in fear at the sight of Xellos.  In all the months that they'd talked, he'd never gotten a clear look at the old man.  He swallowed nervously and asked, "How?"

Xellos smiled at Christopher's apprehension.  "Power allows us to shape the world, young prince."  He locked eyes with the prince and said, "Go and find that power."

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Christopher pressed on, determined to do just that.

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Next Chapter:  Zelgadis returns home

Notes:  My sincerest apologies about the lateness of this chapter.  I have a good reason, I promise!  Uh… well, no I don't but you guys understand right?  Actually I've been throwing myself into _Eternal Twilight lately.  I'd recommend it to those who enjoy (bad) horror._

Reader Response:

Miss Gabriev, I guess there won't be any more Rezgadis, but it's still good right?

CT, it's all good as long as Rezo loses his girl too, right?  I'll bet you enjoyed Rezo's fate in this chapter.

Raven, how can you say it's awful?!  Oh, you meant a good kind of awful.  I gotcha.

Anita, I think that your idea is a little much, but Zelgadis still ended up miserable.

Hikari, I guess you decided to abandon the Splash story, huh?  It's a pity.  I thought it had the potential to be quite good myself.


	8. Finding the way home

As he had done five years ago, Zelgadis arrived at Seyruun at daybreak.  Just as before, he paused on a nearby hilltop to admire the view before entering.  Everything looked so simple from above.

Zelgadis smiled wistfully as his gaze moved over the cityscape.  At the edge of the city was the crater caused by Lina's Dragon Slave all those years ago.  He noted with no small amount of pleasure that it was filled with water now.  "Will wonders never cease?" he muttered quietly as he regarded the newly formed lake.  His eagle like eyes traced a small canal leading from a nearby river to the crater.  He laughed aloud, a happy sound in the quiet of the morning.  

There was the palace, magnificent in it's construction.  The towers stretched far above the rest of the city and seemed just on the verge of reaching Heaven itself.  The brightly polished stone reflected the morning light down upon the rest of the city, making it appear as if the palace was, quite literally, a beacon of hope to the rest of the country.  

Zelgadis sighed in relief.  From this vantage point, it appeared that there was nothing wrong in the kingdom.  He wondered briefly if Christopher had been mistaken in his assessment of the situation in the country.  After all, how could there be any instability in a kingdom that managed to turn the random destruction of a Dragon Slave into something beneficial?  He felt nothing but a sense of peace and prosperity when he gazed at the city.

Then it happened.  The sun reached a point just over the mountains to the east and, as it had five years before, the city turned blood red.  

Zelgadis's breath caught in his throat and he squeezed his eyes shut.  He desperately wanted to chalk the phenomenon up to natural occurrences.  After all, this had happened before.  It probably happened every morning at about this time.  Why then, couldn't he shake the feeling of disquiet?  Cautiously, he opened his eyes to see things as they had been before.

It wasn't the same though, was it?  In the growing light, his sharp eyes saw that the once incandescent towers of the palace weren't quite as bright as they had been before.  There were more abandoned buildings on the outskirts of the city.  The dilapidated buildings actually seemed to be spreading within the city walls like some kind of cancer.

Zelgadis sighed again, his happy mood dispelled.  With much trepidation, he made his way down towards the main road leading into the city.

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Zelgadis pulled his hood farther up, trying to totally conceal his face.  He was a stranger here.  This wasn't the Seyruun that he remembered.

As usual the streets were bustling with noise and activity.  In the entire history of the kingdom the marketplace had never been slow, but despite the volume of shoppers, there was an almost tangible feeling of anxiety in the air.  People completed their transactions with merchants without their usual smiles and laughter.  The days of camaraderie between the citizens had been replaced by suspicion.  Now, when Zelgadis heard a laugh, it sounded strangely out of place in the mutterings and whispers that had become normal.

Feeling more than a little apprehensive, Zelgadis ducked into a dark alley, unconsciously mimicking his actions from five years ago.  When he realized what he'd done, he gasped in horror.  He scanned the darkness, fully expecting a mad priest to come scampering out of the shadows.  

"Xellos?" Zelgadis called out, trying to hide his fear.  It would do no good.  Xellos would know.  He'd always known how to push the chimera's buttons and would see the fear that Zelgadis was feeling.  In his posture, the slight tremble of his hands, or the nervous shifting of his eyes, Xellos would know.  "Xellos!" he repeated, louder than before.  "Come on out Xellos!"

Nothing.  The shadows held no demons, only raw garbage.  A little more garbage then the last time from the looks of things.  Xellos had died.  That had to be it.  No human could survive in the state that the demon had been living in.  He'd been eating rats for Ceiphied's sake.  Most likely he was dead somewhere in the darkness, his spindly frame not so much rotting as crumbling to dust.

Disturbed by that mental image, Zelgadis turned on his heel and walked back out into the light.  He'd spent far too much time in the darkness as it was.  Stepping back out onto the street, he looked around the market, a mixture of sadness and raw apprehension etched on his face.  Could this really be the kingdom that Phil and Emily had ruled for so long?  

Deciding to find out, Zelgadis reached out and grabbed an old woman's arm.  "Hey," he said, a little more roughly than he had intended.  He immediately regretted his action when he saw the woman's terrified face.

The woman's hands shook and she dropped the basket of fruit that she had been carrying.

Apples and oranges scattered across the street.  Once, the citizens of Seyruun would have eagerly leapt to the aid of the old woman.  Now they scattered, avoiding the fruit as if it were poison.  

Zelgadis found himself and the woman in a large open space with the crowd pointedly avoiding the disruption.  He sighed and said, "I'm very sorry.  I only wanted to ask you a question."  He began to pick up the produce and deposit it in the woman's basket.  "What's your name?" he asked in what he hoped was a reassuring tone.

The woman eyed him suspiciously for a moment.  Finally deciding that Zelgadis might not be a threat, she answered, "Ilsa."

"Ilsa," Zelgadis repeated with a nod.  Okay, now he was getting somewhere.  "Ilsa, can you tell me who rules this kingdom?"  Her response was not at all what he expected.

"Oh god," Ilsa stammered.  "I swear that I'm loyal to the crown, sir."

Zelgadis blinked in surprise.  That was hardly the answer that he had expected.  What was going on in this kingdom?  He shook his head and quietly said, "I'm sure that you are Ilsa.  Can you tell me who wears the crown?"

Ilsa's lower lip trembled and she glanced around nervously, searching for some means of escape.  Finally deciding that it was no use running, she sighed shakily and whispered, "Emily, sir.  Queen Emily."

Zelgadis nodded.  "Thank you Ilsa.  That's all I wanted to know."  He turned to leave when he heard her speak again.

"I'm free to go then?" Ilsa asked hopefully.

"Free to go?" Zelgadis repeated quizzically.  Who did this woman think he was?  He stared at her for a moment before nodding mutely.  He watched as she scampered away into the crowd.  "Bizarre," he whispered.  No matter though.  He'd found out what he wanted to know.  He was about to move back into the crowd and make his way to the palace when he was stopped by a rough hand on his shoulder.

"Just a moment stranger."

Zelgadis turned to see a large apish looking man in the uniform of a city guard grinning at him.  His unkempt appearance and thick brow gave the impression that he wasn't a friendly character.  Zelgadis's eyes were drawn to a yellow scrap of cloth tied around the guard's left bicep.

This man was obviously looking for trouble.  Zelgadis's temper flared briefly.  He forcefully grabbed the soldier's hand and removed it from his shoulder.  He was satisfied to see a pained expression cross the guard's face.  "I am hardly a stranger here," he said with a smirk.  "And I suggest that you keep your hands to yourself."

The guard massaged his wrist and glared at the chimera angrily.  "I'd watch my tongue if I were you.  I could have you arrested you know."

Zelgadis closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  This man was just doing his job.  Besides, he didn't want to cause any more problems for Emily by beating some uppity guard.  She apparently had more than enough problems as it was.  Finding himself a little calmer, he replied, "My apologies.  Is there some sort of problem?"

"You're disturbing the peace," the guard said with a mean spirited grin.

"Sorry," Zelgadis said with a shrug.  "I'll try to keep my illicit activities to a minimum from this point on."  Noting the confused expression on the guard's face, he grinned and translated, "I'll be a good boy."

The guard's mouth opened and shut a couple times before he snarled, "Are you trying to make a fool of me?"

"Not at all," Zelgadis said with a quick shake of his head.  "You've made it abundantly clear that you are more than capable of succeeding in that particular endeavor without my assistance.  Good day."  He turned to leave again, hoping that the idiot would let the matter drop.

He didn't.

"Hey!" the guard snarled.  He grabbed Zelgadis's shoulder again and roughly spun him around.

Zelgadis's patience was at an end.  He just wanted to see Emily and this oaf was keeping him from his goal.  When he was facing the much larger man, he grabbed him by the collar with one hand and effortlessly lifted him off the ground.  "What part of 'Good day' don't you understand?!" he snarled.  He shook the guard roughly to accent each word.

If the people had been skittish before, Zelgadis's actions sent them into a full-scale panic.  Everywhere he looked, the throng was struggling to get away from him.  He mentally cursed himself for allowing his temper to get the better of him.

"What's going on here?!" a commanding and familiar voice called out.

"Could it be?" Zelgadis mused quietly, a stupid grin forming on his face.  He turned to see a tall blond man push his way through the crowd.  "Gourry!" he called out happily.  He dropped the guard unceremoniously to the ground and turned to greet his "nephew".  

The angry expression on Gourry's face was replaced with a grin even larger than Zelgadis's.  "Uncle Zel!" he yelled in return.  A moment later, he had embraced Zelgadis warmly.  "What happened here?" he asked as he glanced around the crowd.  They seemed to have calmed somewhat in the face of an authority figure.

Zelgadis glared down at the man who had caused him so much trouble.

The guard was all smiles when he saw Gourry.  He quickly removed his yellow armband and began to mumble a hasty excuse.  "This," he said pausing for a moment to figure out what Zelgadis was, "thing was disturbing the peace Prince Gourry.  I took it upon myself to apprehend him."

Gourry helped the man to his feet.  There was a stern expression on his face as he said, "This isn't a 'thing'!  This is my Uncle Zel!  He might look kinda funny but he's a good person."  He clapped Zelgadis on the shoulder, making the chimera's knees buckle.  "And I'm sure that he was disturbing the peace, but he really doesn't know any better."

"Thanks a lot, Gourry," Zelgadis muttered through clenched teeth.

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A little while later, Zelgadis and Gourry were finally on their way to the castle.  

Zelgadis looked down at Gourry's belt and nodded.  "You have your grandfather's sword."

Gourry looked down and patted the hilt affectionately.  "Yeah, mom gave it to me after dad died.  She said that she wasn't going to need it anymore."

Zelgadis found something disquieting about that statement, but quickly shook it off.  He looked around at the other people in the street.  "So, what's the deal with the armbands?" he asked as he saw another guard with a scarlet band around his arm.

"Oh those things?  It's just how the people have been showing their support.  The people wearing red ones support mother."  Gourry said with a nod.  He noted Zelgadis's bewildered expression and pointed to his hair helpfully.  "You know, red because she has red hair."

"I see.  And the yellow ones support Gouren and the nobles I suppose," Zelgadis said with a nod.  "How did this all this foolishness come about?" he said, gesturing to the sea of red and yellow cloth surrounding them.

"It started right after the nobles started calling for mom to step down," Gourry said with a frown.  "She wanted to, but Uncle Gouren talked her out of it.  She's a good person and Seyruun has always had good people on the throne.  Uncle Gouren knows that.  That hasn't stopped the nobles from trying to block her at every turn.  See?"  Gourry pointed to a run down church that they were passing by.  "Mom wanted to renovate some of the old buildings in the city, but the nobles say that they can't afford a new tax.  No money means no renovations.  And that's just one small example.  It's sad."

"I see," Zelgadis said with a terse nod.  It was typical.  The nobles had seen a moment of weakness and immediately moved to seize power.  He wondered briefly if the jackals had even given Emily time to grieve before moving in for the attack.  Somehow, he found it unlikely.  "I need to see her," he said, looking up at the much taller Gourry.

Gourry nodded as they passed through the palace gates.  "I know.  Mom always said that you'd come back someday.  I know that she'd love to see you."  He looked around briefly before pointing at an ornate gate leading to a lavish garden.  "Mom spends a lot of time in there lately."  He clapped Zelgadis on the back and grinned.  "Well I have to get back to work.  I hope you're going to stay around for a while this time."

Zelgadis nodded and turned towards the gate.  His hand trembled ever so slightly as he reached out to open it.  For some reason, now that he was this close to seeing Emily again he was feeling guilty.  He felt as if he had betrayed her somehow.  He tried to quash the feeling.  He didn't want her to see him frowning.

Making his way through the garden, Zelgadis immediately noted the almost overpowering scent of roses.  Along both sides of the path, rose bushes of every kind and color were planted.  A gentle breeze blew through the garden, causing the bushes to rustle quietly.  It was the only noise in the area.  Maybe Emily wasn't here after all.

Zelgadis's sensitive ears twitched and he paused to listen again.  There it was.  The sound of hedge clippers.  A moment later he heard a female voice quietly singing a sad song.  Emily.  He looked around desperately trying to determine what direction she was in.  Getting a general idea of her location he set off, practically sprinting down the rows of the garden.

After rounding a corner, Zelgadis's breath caught in his throat.  There was a woman here, but it couldn't be Emily.  This woman was just wrong.  But it was.

Emily was crouched in the shade of a large tree, trimming a sickly looking bush.  "We'll have you looking healthy yet," she whispered, a sad grin playing at the corners of her mouth.  She had the look of a person that had seen and experienced far too much pain for one lifetime.  Beautiful crimson hair, once the envy of many women, was marred by ugly streaks of gray.  Her proud gaze, the surest indicator that she was indeed the daughter of Lina Inverse, had given way to an expression of sadness.  She resembled nothing more than a lovebird that had lost its mate.  All her passion for life had abandoned her.

Zelgadis had a fierce urge to turn his back on the broken woman and run.  If he ran, he wouldn't have to accept that it was really her.  He quickly quashed the urge.  He'd spent the last couple of years running and he was finished with it.  Besides, he thought glumly, where would he run to?  "Emily?" he whispered as he stepped out of the shadows.

Emily looked up at the chimera and blinked in disbelief.  "Zel?"  She stood and took a hesitant step towards him, as if expecting him to disappear before her very eyes.  Seeing that he wasn't gong anywhere, the faintest hint of a smile crossed her face and she said, "You came back."  She hugged him, tentatively at first, but tighter once she realized that he was real.

"Yeah," Zelgadis muttered weakly as he returned her embrace.  He couldn't think of anything else to say.

Emily looked into Zelgadis's eyes and said, "You're late."  There was no accusation in her words, just a simple statement of fact.  "I expected you about a year ago."

Zelgadis looked away from Emily, unable to meet her questioning gaze.  He should have been here for her after Phil died.  "I'm sorry," he whispered contritely.  "I was having trouble."  He pulled the sad remains of her locket out of his pocket and held it out for her inspection.

Emily frowned as she hesitantly touched the twisted gold.  She looked into Zelgadis's eyes and asked, "You had a hard time out there, didn't you?"  Not waiting for an answer, she held him even more tightly and buried her face in his chest.  A moment later, she began to quietly sob.  

Zelgadis sighed and held Emily as she vented her sorrow.  He tried to ignore the sensation of her frail body pressed against his.  Once she had been a powerful warrior, able to stand against the strongest foes with a smile upon her face.  Now, it felt as if he could break her in half if he squeezed her too hard.

Emily pulled away from Zelgadis and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.  "I'm sorry," she sniffed.  "We haven't even been talking for two minutes and I'm already laying a guilt trip on you."

"Don't worry about it," Zelgadis said with a sigh.  "I deserve it."  And he did.  If he hadn't been so caught up in his own troubles, hadn't been lost all these years, he would have been here.  Maybe he could have done something.  Maybe…

"No you don't!" Emily exclaimed with a vehement shake of her head.  "I knew that's what you would say, Zel.  Do you have any idea of how terrible it makes me feel to know that you think that?"  She looked up at the hurt expression on Zelgadis's face and frowned.  "See?  There you go again.  Now you feel guilty because I said that, right?"

Zelgadis smiled mirthlessly.  "I guess you do know me pretty well."

Emily grinned, bringing an incredible change over her face.  With that smile, she appeared to be something like her former self.  "I know you better than anyone, Zel," she said in a matter of fact way.

"Oh really?" Zelgadis asked, his cold smile becoming more genuine.  Emily's cheer was infectious.  

"Yep," she said with a nod.  She glanced up at the palace and said, "Let's go inside.  The flowers can fend for themselves for a little while."  She looked down at the crimson blooms and bit her lip thoughtfully.  "Phil gave me a rose all those years ago in the garden, when he tried to kiss me for the first time.  Do you remember that?  Back during the Soul Render mess?"

Zelgadis thought for a moment before laughing out loud.  "I do remember that!  Your mother ended up bagging an assassin that night, right?"

"That's right!" Emily said with a nod.  She sighed and said, "Anyway, Phil loved roses.  That's why I still take care of the gardens.  The gardeners have a fit when they see how I've 'helped', but I do it anyway.  For him, you know?"

Zelgadis took Emily's arm in his and began to make his way out of the garden.  After a moment of thought, he chuckled quietly and said, "I don't think that's quite right, Emily.  He didn't love roses.  It was more like he loved giving you roses."

Emily excitedly punched Zelgadis on the arm and said, "That's it, exactly!  And did you know that I got so tired of them?  Rose petals in the bath every morning, roses on the table during every meal, rose petals on the bed when we… well, you know."  She giggled like a young girl, pleasing the chimera to no end.  "I got tired of roses, but never said anything.  Phil was never really good at expressing himself and I guess the flowers were his way of saying, 'I love you.'"  She sighed and mused aloud, "Roses year round, every single day."  Her smile faded and she whispered, "I miss him so much."

"He loved you a lot, Emily."

"I know."  Emily perked up and elbowed Zelgadis in the ribs.  "Anyway, enough about that.  I'm sure that I'm boring you to tears.  Tell me about your travels.  Did you find what you were looking for?"

Zelgadis nodded.  "As a matter of fact, I did."

"And where was it?" Emily asked, a mischievous grin on her face.

Zelgadis rolled his eyes when he saw that smile.  Emily already knew.  He covered his face embarrassedly and muttered, "Would you believe that it was right here?"

"I would!" Emily said triumphantly.  "See?  I knew that you'd come back after you figured out that you shouldn't have left in the first place!"

Zelgadis growled good-naturedly.  "You know, that little tidbit of information could have been brought to my attention a couple years ago."

"Would you have believed me if I told you?"

Zelgadis sighed and begrudgingly admitted, "No, probably not."

Emily nodded, satisfied at Zelgadis's admission.  "I knew that.  You won't believe anything that you don't figure out yourself.  Although," she said with a playful elbow, "I was a little surprised that it took this long for you to figure it out.  You must be getting slow in your old age, Zel."

"Says the woman with six grandchildren," Zelgadis quipped.

"Hey!" Emily said with feigned indignation, "I happen to be in the prime of my life, buddy!  You're right though.  There are a lot of grandchildren.  More than I can keep up with sometimes."  She coughed and muttered, "They could use some guidance.  You know, from somebody who's seen it all."

Zelgadis smirked and said, "You're about as subtle as a kick in the head, Emily."

Emily blinked innocently.  "Moi?  I don't know what you're talking about, Zel.  You don't happen to know of any wizened old men with a lot of time on their hands, do you?"

"I am not 'wizened'," Zelgadis corrected Emily tersely.  He couldn't hide his smile though.

"Does that mean you're going to be staying?" Emily asked, noting the smile on his face.

Zelgadis nodded.  "For as long as you'll put up with me."

Emily wrapped her arms around Zelgadis's torso and squeezed him tightly.  "Then you're going to be here forever," she cheerfully informed him.  "The kids, their kids, and all the others that will follow, they'll never let you go.  You know that, right?"

Zelgadis nodded silently.  He could think of worse ways to spend eternity than with people who loved him.  This wouldn't be bad.  "Not bad at all," he mumbled to himself as he looked up into the infinitely blue sky.

And the months passed…

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Next Chapter:  The end of Zelgadis's tale

Notes:  Whew, I'm really, really sorry that this has taken so long to finish.  I've just been really caught up in a lot of other projects, work, and life in general.  Anyway, the next chapter is the last as you may have guessed.  I hope to actually have it up in less than a week.  Yes, you heard right.  A week.  How about that for a change?

I know that there wasn't a shred of action in this chapter, but it's still one of my favorites, by far.  As much as I enjoy writing action, I love the quiet moments between characters just as much, if not more.

I think that my favorite part of this chapter was the end.  I've always loved Emily and being able to write her back into Zel's story pleases me immensely.  Specifically, I enjoyed writing about her memories of Phil.  

Reviewer Response:

Miss Gabriev, thanks for the review.  I really appreciate the fact that you stuck with the story.  As for your question, Christopher is Emily and Phil's son.  Lina Seyruun will sadly, be making only a very, very brief appearance in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading everyone!


	9. The future

At first glance, the day started off much like any other.  The sun rose, the birds sang, and the city slowly came to life.  But, upon closer inspection, everything was slightly off kilter.  The mist never burned off that morning, giving the sun a dull muddied look.  Birds sang, but their songs were few and far between.  Most had sensed that something was amiss and fled the area.  Finally, the people of Seyruun, happy again after the Queen had come out of her self imposed exile, were nervous and quite jumpy.  One would think that the marketplace was a graveyard, given the dark mood of the people.

Zelgadis had noted all these things on his morning stroll through the city, but dismissed them out of hand.  Everyone had off days, so why should the kingdom of Seyruun be any different?  He would later hate himself for his inattention, but now he was focused on something far more important.

He was busy killing Emily's grandson.  Well not literally, but it would have been terribly easy.

The boy, an overeager lad who let his impulses control his actions, swung his blade at Zelgadis's throat with reckless abandon.  Had the chimera not stepped back, it would have surely been a lethal blow.

"That was foolish Michael," Zelgadis chided as he watched the boy overbalance, leaving his side exposed.  In the blink of an eye, he had swept his opponent's legs out from under him.  "Never overextend yourself.  You leave yourself open to all sorts of trouble."

Emily and Gourry winced sympathetically as Michael slammed into the ground, getting the wind knocked out of him.

"Oh man," Gourry muttered, covering his face embarrassedly.  His son had greatly improved under Zelgadis's tutelage but he was still making amateur mistakes.

Clapping, Emily called out some words of encouragement.  "That's okay, Michael!  You'll get him next time!"

Zelgadis scowled at the queen and said, "Not if he keeps making mistakes like that."

Emily responded in a mature and tactful way.  She stuck her tongue out at the chimera.

Zelgadis was unable to hide his smile as he reached down to help his 'nephew' up.  "That was better though," he said with a nod.  "Your form is improving.  You've been practicing."  He shot Emily a look of mock scorn and leaned down to whisper to the boy, "Another couple of years and you might be able to beat your grandma."

Michael grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.  "Gee, do you think so?"

Zelgadis nodded.  "Oh yeah.  The old woman won't have a chance.  Now let's do it again."  They both assumed a defensive position and began the exercise for what felt like the hundredth time.

Emily watched Zelgadis with a warm smile on her face.  He'd taken so well to palace life that she could scarcely believe it.  She had originally expected a volatile period of adjustment with Zel grumbling about not being able to satisfy his wanderlust.  As she watched him practice swordplay with her grandchild though, she realized something.  He'd never wanted to wander.  He was just looking for somewhere to belong.  Since he'd started instructing the children in everything from reading to fencing, she had seen an incredible change come over him.  He was actually happy.  He had something to work towards and it pleased him immensely.

The only minor disappointment for Zelgadis had been the lack of magical talent in the children.  Christopher had been the last of the Inverse line to show more than a marginal talent for spell craft.  It wasn't the fault of the family though.  Since the breaking of Hellmaster's barrier over seventy years ago, spell casters had become more and more rare.  It was like the magic had begun to seep out of the world then.

Emily and Phil had been some of the last true sorcerers.  Well, Phil had anyway.  Emily had shown a good deal of talent, being Lina Inverse's daughter it was hard not to, but had been far more interested in swordplay, a fact that upset Lina to no end.

"Don't waste your life, Emily.  Nobody's going to respect you for swinging a sword." Lina had told her repeatedly, before Emily had finally taken enough and left home.

But now, swords were all that were left.  Even a simple lighting spell was over most so-called sorcerers' heads.  Hell, even Emily could do that one.  Just to prove it, she held up her hand and whispered, "Lighting," calling upon magical energies that she hadn't tapped in decades.  A faint light sprang into existence in her palm.  "Still got it," she whispered tiredly.  Even this small an exertion was exhausting.

Aside from Christopher, who Emily hadn't seen in over a year now, magic was pretty much dead.  It was sad, really.  With magic, dragons, and even most of the demons gone, life was quickly becoming mundane.

Emily sighed, feeling a wave of nostalgia.  She felt so old.  Old and depressed.  Old she could deal with.  She loved her family and wouldn't trade a day with them for an eternity of youth, but depressed?  That wouldn't do at all.  She was Emily Inverse Seyruun, damn it!  She wouldn't stand for it.  Now she just needed a scapegoat to get her spirits up.  

"Hey Zel!" Emily called out, as she held up the orb of light she had summoned.  "Take a look at this!"

Zelgadis turned and gasped in surprise when he saw Emily's spell.  "Emily?!  When did you-"

The chimera was cut off by the impact of Michael's blade against the back of his head.  The clang of metal on stone rang out clearly in the courtyard and Zelgadis fell slowly to his knees and then onto his face.

"Jeez mom!  Why'd you do that?" Gourry yelled as he jumped to his feet and ran over to check on Zelgadis.  "He might be hurt!"

For her part, Emily was laughing hysterically with tears of mirth streaming down her face.  "I'm sorry!" she managed to squeak through her giggles.  "I'm so sorry, but it was too easy to pass up!"

Michael looked down at his instructor nervously and gently nudged the unmoving chimera with his foot.  A moment later, he hesitantly grinned and muttered, "Um, victory?"

"Yeah, that's right," Zelgadis muttered, as he climbed to his feet, quite unhurt.  "Nice work, Michael."  He rubbed the back of his head, wincing in pain.  The mark, if there had been one to begin with, was already healed, but the memory of the pain remained.  His eyes narrowed dangerously as he glared at Emily.  "You…"

Emily covered her mouth with a hand in a vain attempt to stifle her laughter.  "Zel, I'm sorry!"  Her smile faded as he advanced on her menacingly.  "Zel?  Zel, it was a joke."

Zelgadis snorted and said, "You'll forgive me if I fail to see the humor in your attempt to get my head knocked off."  He picked Emily up, slung her over his shoulder, and began to walk.

Emily saw where the chimera was headed and yelled, "You wouldn't!"  Smiling in spite of her irritation, she shrieked, "Zel, I swear I'll never talk to you again if you do that!"  

Zelgadis chuckled dryly.  "Promises, promises."  His pace never slowed.

Pounding uselessly on his back, Emily whined, "I'm royalty, damn it!  You can't do this to me!"  She turned to see her son grinning at her plight and said, "Gourry, don't you dare let him do this!  I'll… I'll… I'll cut you out of the will!"

Gourry just waved.

Zelgadis sighed and shook his head in mock sadness.  "Sorry Emily, but when you play, you have to pay."  A second later, he tossed her into the ornate fountain that stood in the center of the courtyard.

Emily sat up and shrieked, "By Ceiphied, that's cold!"  She hugged herself tightly, shivering in the icy pool.  One of the innumerable spouts, this one in the shape of a fish, sprayed cold water onto her head.  "I'll g-get you f-for this," she stammered through chattering teeth.

"I thought that this made us even?" Zelgadis said as he extended a hand to help the queen out of the fountain.

"No, I owe you for this one," Emily said with a haughty sniff.  "You're not allowed to lay a hand on me.  I, on the other hand, am the queen and I'm allowed to torture the subjects."  She began to wring out her ruined dressed and grinned.  "That's one of the perks of the job, you know?"

Zelgadis smiled and was about to say something, when he was interrupted by the arrival of a messenger.  

The man all but shoved Zelgadis out of the way in his haste to get to the queen.  He didn't even pay any heed to the fact that Emily looked like a drowned rat.  "My queen," he said breathlessly, "I have news."

"So?" Emily said, fruitlessly trying to straighten her dress, "Spill it already."  

The messenger looked at Zelgadis distrustfully.  "Here, my queen?"

Emily scowled at the messenger's rudeness.  She nodded at Zelgadis and tersely said, "I trust him with my life.  You can tell him anything that you would tell me."

The messenger bowed low.  "My apologies.  My queen, it's just that…"  He looked up at Emily trying to muster the courage to speak his message.  "It's Christopher.  Your son has come home."

Emily didn't look like she could be any happier.  "Well, show him in!"

"Begging your pardon, your majesty, but I don't think that'd be prudent."

Emily frowned, noting for the first time that the man seemed incredibly troubled.  She dropped to one knee and put her hands on the messenger's shoulders.  "Is… is something wrong with my son?" she hesitantly asked.

"No."  The messenger swallowed hard and found himself unable to meet Emily's gaze.  "He's brought an army with him.  He means to conquer the city."

"No.  You're lying," Emily said flatly.  She looked to Zelgadis for support, but he had his head cocked, as if listening to something beyond the reach of normal ears.

After a moment of silence, Zelgadis fetched a sigh and said, "He's right.  I can hear them coming."

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The halls were a mass of confusion with guards running to and fro in hasty preparation for battle.

"How could this happen?" Emily said on the verge of tears.  "How could Christopher betray me like this?"

Zelgadis gasped as the image of a horrible husk of a man, bearing the clothes of a priest and wearing a grin that was both cruel and insane came unbidden to his mind.  "It can't be," he whispered.  And it couldn't, could it?  He was dead.  Surely the demon had to be dead by now.  He had been on his last legs so many years ago.

"Zel?" Emily said, fear evident in her voice.  "Zel?  What's wrong?!"  The chimera's expression was a mask of terror, which frightened her all the more.  Nothing scared Zelgadis.  But now he wouldn't answer her.  He just muttered to himself, lost in his own horrible thoughts.  "Zel!" she yelled, slapping him hard across the face.  "Answer me!"

Zelgadis blinked as if waking up from a nightmare.  "What?"

"You're scaring me!" Emily yelled as they pushed their way through a throng of guards.  "I'm already scared enough as it is without you getting weird on me!"

"Sorry," Zelgadis muttered as they hit a wall of bodies.  He growled, "This isn't getting us anywhere."  Scooping Emily up in his arms, he muttered, "Levitation."  Now unhindered by gravity or the mob of palace guards, they made their way easily to the parapet overlooking the entryway to the palace.

Just as Zelgadis had feared, Christopher sat astride a soot gray horse at the head of a large column of infantry.  He wore a circlet of wrought iron atop his head.  The young man's face lit up with a cruel smile when he saw Zelgadis and Emily.  He extended a hand in mock greeting.  "Mother!  Uncle Zelgadis!  I have returned!  Did you miss me?"

Zelgadis ignored the dark prince for the moment in favor of scanning the horde of troops behind him.  Ogres, trolls, the most unsavory looking mercenaries, all were present, but the man he had been dreading was nowhere to be seen.  He breathed a sigh of relief.  This was bad, but if the demon wasn't here it could be fixed.  Somehow, it could be fixed.

"What do you want?" Emily called out, her voice cracking with emotion.

Christopher smirked.  "It's time for a changing of the guard mother!  You've held onto that throne for long enough, I believe."

Zelgadis called down to the prince, "Why are you doing this, Christopher?"

The smile on Christopher's face faded and he replied, "Because I deserve it.  And I mean to have it.  But, I don't want to see any bloodshed."  He gestured to the buildings around him and said, "This is my city, too.  My people would suffer should this come to violence.  So please mother, open the gates and nobody has to die today."

Emily sighed shakily, tears flowing freely.  She opened her mouth to answer, but was suddenly interrupted by the neighing of a single horse.

Zelgadis watched, not wanting to believe, but unable to deny what his eyes were telling him.  "No, no, no," he repeated endlessly, as if he could ward off the approaching evil.

A man, withered and bent, sitting atop an evil looking ebony stallion, was quickly making his way through the throng.  Suddenly, he burst through the front lines, scattering the trolls like so much rubbish.  His steed came to a stop next to Christopher and the grinning skull that was Xellos's face turned upwards to face Zelgadis.

Zelgadis recoiled at the sight of the demon.  He felt a sense of impending doom as he gazed into those purple eyes.  "By Ceiphied," he whispered.

Xellos wore his familiar smirk in addition to new robes signifying his rank as Christopher's general.  He smiled darkly as he held Zelgadis's gaze with his own.

Staring into those amethyst chips, Zelgadis felt his knees buckle.  Evil.  There was nothing but cruel, unyielding evil in those eyes.  When he had traveled with Lina and the others in their youth, Xellos had hidden that darkness behind a smile and a chuckle.  Now all the masks were cast aside to reveal his true nature, and seeing him for what he really was stunned the chimera.

Maybe that was why Zelgadis didn't move when he heard the musical sound of a single bowstring snapping.  He watched, his chimeric senses making everything move in slow motion, as a single black arrow, barbed and cruel, streaked through the sky.  He could have reached out and easily plucked it from the air, but his body refused to obey his command.

Emily, about to tell Christopher that he could have what he wanted, was suddenly struck in the throat by the feathered shaft.  The impact threw her back and Zelgadis had the distinct impression that several voices screamed "Mother!" as she fell.  Lina, her eldest child, Gourry her first son, Claire her youngest, and even Christopher called out for her.

Zelgadis caught the fatally wounded queen, saving her from the cruel impact on the stone floor.  He was useful enough to manage that at least.  He sat with her cradled in his arms as she struggled for breath.  There was a look of such sadness in her eyes, such pain at this betrayal by her child.

A moment later, Zelgadis was joined by Lina Seyruun.  She'd just arrived a few days ago from her home at the outskirts of the kingdom.  She and Emily had been so happy to see one another.  Despite the fact that Emily was a warm and cheerful person and Lina was somewhat cooler in disposition, they had shared an incredibly deep bond.  Now, Lina suffered just as much as if she had been the arrow's target.  Mother and daughter shared their agony in silence.

Claire, the child who most closely resembled her grandmother Lina Inverse, was the last to reach the scene.  Far less reserved than her sister, she wept openly, desperately clutching at her mother in a vain attempt to keep her with the living.

Zelgadis slowly became aware that the sounds of fighting had erupted around them.  The sound of arrows being loosed and the smell of smoke as the city began to burn forced their way into his consciousness.  He looked up to see Gourry, sword drawn and raw fury etched on his face, ordering the archers to loose another volley of arrows on the horde below.  The battle had begun.

This was Xellos's fault.  Somehow, the demon had caused this.  He felt something begin to well up inside of him.  Something dark and cruel.  Leaving the dying Emily to her daughters, he stood and began to make his way down to the gate where the fighting was heaviest.  Despite the mass of guards choking the staircase, none touched the chimera.  There was murder in his expression and nobody dared to bar his path.

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"Stop!  I command you to stop!"  Christopher yelled.  His words were immediately swallowed by the din of battle.  He glanced around the battleground, a mixture of disbelief and horror on his face.  "This isn't right," he whispered.

Xellos rode up beside the dark prince, a wicked grin on his face.  "Congratulations sire!  Your ascension is at hand!" he said in a cheerful tone.  He laughed, a horrible sound amidst the screams of the wounded and dying.

"Xellos!"  Christopher sighed in relief.  "They won't listen to me!"  He gestured to the soldiers burning the city and murdering its citizens.  "You have to stop them!  Make them stop, Xellos!"

"Stop, sire?  But they're doing such a wonderful job!"  Xellos grinned and pointed at something over the would be king's shoulder.  "Look at how efficiently they're handling those enemy soldiers!"

Christopher looked over his shoulder to see a pair of trolls dismembering a group of children.  "Oh god," he whispered, horrified.  "You have to stop this!  This isn't what I wanted!  I never meant for mother…"

Xellos snorted.  "Your mother?  But don't you see Christopher?  Your crowning will be that much quicker with your family out of the way."

"My family…?"

"But of course!" Xellos said with a chuckle.  "Every man in the army has been instructed to take no prisoners, not even the women and children.  As your general, I thought that this would be more efficient.  You don't want to start your reign having to tie up loose ends, do you?"

Christopher just stared at his general with his mouth agape.  "Stop them," he whispered.

"Say again, sire?"  Xellos cupped a hand around his ear.  "I'm quite old and can't hear as well as I used to."

"Make them stop!" Christopher screamed.

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At that very instant, in the tower a mere twenty-five feet over the battle, Emily ceased her feeble attempts to breathe and she slipped away into oblivion.  As she had long feared, her mother was not waiting there to greet her.

Claire and her sister hugged each other tightly, sharing their grief.  Lina wanted to go to her own children who were on the far side of the castle, but they were cut off from the stairs.  The woefully unprepared guards had already been all by overwhelmed by Christopher's army and it was only a matter of time before the enemy broke through the last desperate defenders.

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Xellos cocked his head in feigned confusion.  "I don't understand, sire.  Didn't you want to be king?"  Every time he had said, "sire," he grinned as if knowing that it was some kind of sick joke.

"King?" Christopher said confusedly.  He was no king.  He was nothing at all.  

Xellos watched as a troll was suddenly flung out of the horde by some unseen force.  The half-ton creature flew twenty feet into the air before slamming violently against the unyielding stone of the palace wall.  A moment later, another followed, and then another.  He nodded resignedly and said, "If you'll excuse me, sire.  Destiny awaits me."  

"What?" Christopher muttered.  He shook his head uselessly, trying to understand how things had come to this.

"My death, sire.  My work here is done.  Do enjoy your reign.  You've earned it."  Before Christopher could say anything else, Xellos spurred his horse on, charging into the thickest part of the fighting.

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Up on the parapet, Lina and Claire looked on sadly as a group of enemy troops shattered the last line of defenders.  They didn't speak a word as they were surrounded.  Instead they hugged each other all the tighter just before the swords fell upon them.

A moment later, Emily's daughters lay with her in death.

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Zelgadis effortlessly flung his foes away as he made his way to the point where he had last seen Xellos.  He roared the demon's name over and over as he advanced through the myriad foes.  

Atop his ebony steed, Xellos erupted through the line of mercenaries, laughing madly all the while.  "Oh, Zelgadis?  Were you looking for me?"

Zelgadis didn't even bother to look at Xellos.  He simply reached up and, almost gingerly, plucked the demon priest from his horse.  A moment later, he slammed him down on the ground, splintering the frail old man's bones.

Xellos laughed in spite of the pain.  "Oh dear!  A little upset, are we?"  He was unable to stifle a grunt of agony as the chimera lifted his broken body from the ground by the front of his robes.  He and Zelgadis stared into each other's eyes for a moment before he chuckled and said, "You know, we never talk anymore.  How have you been?"

Zelgadis smiled evilly just before smashing the priest back into the ground face first.

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Michael hastily moved about the chamber, trying to find anything that he could use to bar the door to the playroom.  The room was horribly empty, with a few toys scattered on the floor to amuse the children and little else.  There wasn't even a decent sized chair to brace the door with.  

With a heavy heart, the boy realized that they probably weren't going to survive the next few minutes.  The battle raged just outside the door and he knew that the guards were terribly outnumbered.  But still there was a chance to do something worthwhile.  He still had his sword and…

"That's it!" Michael exclaimed, as he looked at his cousins, three of them older than he and the other two younger.  Lily was the youngest child, barely six months in age.  He ran over and gingerly plucked her out of her older sister's arms.  "It's okay," he whispered, trying to calm the child down.  If she cried out, this wasn't going to work.  Carefully wrapping her in a blanket, he placed her on the floor in a dark corner of the room.  After a moment of consideration, he unfastened his cloak and laid it atop her, concealing her quite well.

A moment later, the door burst open and death flooded in.  "Don't overextend yourself," Michael whispered, recalling Uncle Zel's words as he turned to face the attackers.

All in all, Gourry would have been immensely proud of his son's skill that day.  Michael felled four opponents before losing his head to a troll.

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"Oh," Xellos said as he sniffed.  The latest impact had broken his nose and jarred loose the last of his teeth.  Oh well, he wouldn't be eating anymore anyway.  He struggled to look up at the chimera and grinned.  Blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth as he said, "So all in all, you've been doing pretty well?"

Zelgadis grabbed a fistful of Xellos's thin hair and yanked him up to a kneeling position.  "I'm going to kill you," he hissed.

Xellos was about to reply when he felt a sharp pain in his chest.  Could it be?  A repeated jolt confirmed his suspicions.  Oh, this was too good!  It appeared that the chimera wasn't going to get to kill him after all.  "Don't you at least want to know why I did this Zelgadis?"  His heart hammered more and more irregularly as he spoke.

"Not really," Zelgadis muttered as he dragged Xellos by his hair through the battlefield.  He wanted to get the demon somewhere slightly more private so that he could take his time killing him.

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"Chris!"

Christopher cringed at the sound of that voice and instinctively reached for his sword.  In all the years that they'd been together, he'd never heard Gourry sound that furious.  He turned just in time to catch his brother's blade on his own.  The impact jarred him loose from the saddle and he fell roughly to the ground.  

His head.  Gourry had been swinging for his head, Christopher thought.  His brother was actually trying to kill him.  He quickly scrabbled to his feet, trying to keep his horse between himself and Gourry.  "Wait a second!" he pleaded, narrowly avoiding another of his brother's strikes.

"Shut up!" Gourry snarled.

For a moment, all conversation ceased as the brothers' blades clashed time and again.

Christopher panted in exhaustion and fear.  He'd never been the fighter that Gourry was.  He wasn't built for it.  He'd been a weak child, always in bed with some illness or other.  Even now, he was slight of frame compared to Gourry.  The only reason he knew how to fight at all was because his older brother had taught him.

"You killed mom!"  Gourry swung with all of his considerably strength sending his younger brother sprawling again.  

"I… I didn't…" Christopher stammered, trying to find the words to tell Gourry that he hadn't wanted this to happen.  He'd loved his mother.  Sure, he was more than a little bitter that she'd given her sword to Gourry instead of him, but he didn't want to see her dead.  He just wanted what was rightfully his.  Gourry had received everything else, so why should he get the throne as well?

Gourry glared down at his cowering brother and asked, "Did you kill dad too?"  A gasp from Christopher betrayed the fact that he had.  "Stand up," Gourry said, his voice deadly serious.  "Show some spine for once in your life."

Christopher glared at Gourry, fury replacing the fear that he had felt before.  Father had always looked down on him; always taken Gourry's side in every disagreement, every quarrel.  Now, he was going to pay his brother back for everything.  Trembling in anticipation, he climbed to his feet and assuming a defensive stance snarled, "Defend yourself, brother."

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"This really has nothing to do with you, you know," Xellos said, as if it made any difference.  "I'm doing this to get back at her."  Another bolt of agony shot through his chest as he spoke.  Oh, how he wished that he could see Zelgadis's expression when he found out that righteous revenge had been denied him.

"You killed Emily.  I remember you promising Lina that you were going to all those years ago.  You sick twisted creature.  You just couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?!"

"Well," Xellos said thoughtfully, his voice faltering, "I am a monster, after all.  Cruelty and chaos were my life.  They still are."  He chuckled quietly as he slipped away to a place where Zelgadis could no longer reach him.

Zelgadis pulled the priest up by the hair and slammed him against the wall.  "If you have some sort of beef with Lina, sort it out with her!  You'll be meeting her shortly."  His breath caught in his throat as he felt the priest's dead weight.  "No," he whispered.  The glazed expression in Xellos's eyes confirmed his fears.  The priest had escaped his punishment.  Xellos was dead.

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"Fireball!" Christopher yelled, pulling the chaotic energies into himself and hurling a sphere of blazing destruction at Gourry.  

Gourry muttered the words to activate the enchantment on his sword.  The runes along the blade glowed faintly and his brother's fireball dissipated harmlessly on impact.  "Still have to cheat to win, do you?"

"Elitist bastard," Christopher muttered.  He wasn't a match for Gourry physically, so of course his brother mocked him for using what he knew.  How typical.  How infuriatingly typical of the golden boy.

Blades clashed yet again the foes found themselves face to face, their noses a mere inch from one another.  It was a strange sight, almost appearing as if one was a twisted reflection of the other.  Gourry with his long blond hair, tall muscular frame, and handsome appearance was on one side contrasting to Christopher's mop of unruly dark hair, lesser stature, and more modest features on the other.  They might have stayed frozen in that position forever had something not exploded behind them, flinging both combatants to the ground.

Gourry was the first to recover.  He looked up and was horrified to note that the palace was in flames.  Christopher's army had torched most of the city and now their childhood home was being destroyed as well.  Scowling, he turned back to see Christopher cowering before him, his sword lost in the explosion.  

Christopher watched calmly as Gourry raised his sword.  He knew that there was no time to work a spell, but he did so anyway.  He was out of options.  Drawing his hand back, he began to utter, "Flare-"

The sword fell in what should have been a lethal blow, but either fate or luck intervened.  The sound of metal striking metal split the air and Christopher's circlet of iron fell to the ground, sliced neatly in two.  The skin of the prince's forehead was rent open, releasing a stream of blood that instantly dyed his hair red, but for the most part, the blow had been turned aside.

Gourry staggered, never considering the possibility that his strike would not have finished the fight.  The recoil of the blade striking the circlet flung his arms up, leaving his abdomen totally exposed.

"Arrow!" Christopher finished.  A shaft of flame in the shape of a javelin, the technique Zelgadis had taught him, sprang into being in his hand.  Without a moment's hesitation, he flung the spell into Gourry's stomach.  The ensuing blast flung the combatants apart and Christopher's world went dark for a time when he struck the ground.

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"Stop laughing, Xellos." Zelgadis hissed angrily.  Despite being dead, the demon still wore that infuriating smile that had graced his countenance for as long as the chimera had known him.  "Damn it," he growled flinging the corpse face down on the ground.  Let him grin at that for a while.

Xellos actually had plenty to laugh about.  Lina Inverse's bloodline was being extinguished by one of her own descendants.  On top of that, the kingdom of Seyruun was going to fall.  Without a leader, how could it not?  Death and chaos would reign.  And who was to say that the rest of the continent would not follow?  The fall of a powerful kingdom like Seyruun would have catastrophic effects for decades to come.  All in all, it was a fairly grand accomplishment for a demon that had been laid as low as Xellos.

Sparing the fallen priest one last kick in the ribs, Zelgadis turned, meaning to see if there was anything left to be done.  Someone in the royal family had to be alive.  Drawing his sword, he began to cut his way through his foes, back to where he had left Emily and her daughters.  Innumerable blades, clubs, and arrows struck his hide.  One particularly zealous mercenary doused him with burning pitch.  He didn't even blink.  Nothing hindered him.  Despite his foes best attempts, the chimera easily made his way through the enemy.  Wreathed in flames, he began to climb the stairs to the parapet overlooking the city.  They had to be alive, he thought.  Lina and Claire had to have survived.

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In the throne room Gouren and his twin sister Lana sat, lost in thought.  To think that they would live to see the end of Seyruun.  The fall of a kingdom that had stood for a thousand years.

Gouren looked up at his loyal guards, fighting on even in the face of hopelessness to hold the doors and protect the new king.  As the doors began to buckle under the onslaught of the invaders Gouren spoke to his men for the last time.  "Leave us," he commanded, pointing at a little known emergency exit through the back of the throne room.  "They will follow us, but you men have a chance to escape and live."

Not a single man gave Gouren's order a second thought.  They immediately turned back to continue their valiant struggle to stem the tide of darkness trying to press into the chamber.

Gouren chuckled dryly and sat down on the throne.  A moment later he began to weep quietly.  Not for fear of death, but because of his good fortune.  What had he done to deserve such loyalty?

When the end came a few moments later, Gouren and Lana were smiling.  They had seen the best that Seyruun had to offer and were humbled by it.

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Slowly, Christopher came back to some semblance of consciousness.  He absentmindedly wiped the blood out of his eyes as he surveyed his surroundings.  He was alive?  That meant that Gourry had to be…

"Yes," the prince hissed, a dark smile splitting his face.  "Yes!"  There was his brother, lying a few feet away, quite dead.  "I win, dear brother." he said as he staggered to his feet and shambled over to where Gourry lay.  "And this… is mine," he gasped, yanking Emily's blade from Gourry's unmoving fingers.

Sparing a moment to spit on his accursed brother, Christopher turned and watched as the palace burned.  Gourry had told him to show some spine.  It had been one of the last things he had ever said.  And Christopher would.  The least that he could do was honor Gourry's last request.  He'd see this through to the end.  He wouldn't have wished for things to turn out this way, not in a million years, but what was done was done.  This kingdom would be his.  Things had gone way to far for him to stop now.

Leaning on the sword for support, Christopher haltingly made his way into the palace.  There was still blood to shed before the day was won.  Zelgadis was still a threat and would have to be dealt with.  He smiled at the rune-etched blade he carried.  He knew how to kill the chimera and would succeed where so many others had failed.

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The acrid smoke was thick and even Zelgadis coughed, as it seemed to cling to his lungs.  They couldn't be alive, he realized.  If Lina and Claire hadn't gotten out of the tower, they were already dead.

The chimera himself was still ablaze, presenting a strange and frightening sight to the castle's defenders and its attackers.  Nobody quite knew what to make of the flaming demon that stalked the halls of the dying palace.

"Lina!  Claire!" Zelgadis called out, his voice barely a croak.  Until he saw their bodies, he wouldn't give up, even if he had to walk through hell itself.  He paused for a moment, his sensitive ears twitching.  Crying.  He heard a woman crying.  Someone was still alive.  "Claire?  Lina?" he called out again, encouraged by the sound.

Zelgadis leapt through a wall of flame, finally reaching the place that he had left the fallen queen.  He was greeted by an incredibly strange sight.  "What the hell?" he whispered.

Lying on the floor he recognized the form of Lina Seyruun, her dark hair a stark contrast against her mother and sister's fiery locks.  The strange thing was that there were three redheads on the floor.  In addition to Claire and Emily, there was a third woman sitting on her knees beside the others.

The woman's features were partially obscured by the smoke, but it was obvious that she was upset.  She cradled Emily's head in her lap and was lovingly stroking her hair.  Her petite body was wracked by violent sobs and it seemed as if she might actually die of grief.

Zelgadis frowned.  Who was this person?  She seemed to be totally unaffected by the flames and smoke.  Over the roar of the flames he heard her whispering to Emily.

"Why'd this have to happen?  She promised me that you'd be happy.  She promised!  I'm so sorry, baby."  The woman leaned down and tenderly kissed Emily's forehead.  "I'm so sorry!"

"Baby?" Zelgadis whispered.  He suddenly felt as if his stomach had turned a somersault.  It couldn't be.  "Hey!" he called out.

The woman slowly looked up, as if just realizing that Zelgadis was there.  She smiled sadly and said, "Zel."  Her ruby eyes practically glowed in the firelight.  There was something else in her gaze besides the tears and the fire.  Behind those crimson eyes danced flecks of gold.  

Slivers of Chaos.

The woman wiped her face with the back of a hand and sniffed.  "There's still one left.  You have to save her, Zel.  I can't do it."

Zelgadis shook his head hardly daring to believe.  "Are you her?  Are you Li-"

"Zelgadis!"

Zelgadis glanced over his shoulder to see Christopher burst through the flames, his enchanted blade glowing brightly.  He picked up his own sword and turned to face the dark prince.  Looking back at the woman one last time, he wasn't the least bit surprised to see that she was gone.  Maybe she'd never been there to begin with.

Christopher swung wildly at Zelgadis, barely missing the chimera's head.  "Die!"

Zelgadis took a step back, almost tripping over Claire's body.  He felt horrible about it.  She'd been the sweetest of Emily's children, never thinking of herself and now she was so much refuse on the floor.  Infuriated by that thought, he focused on killing the man that had caused this.  Xellos might have escaped his wrath, but Christopher wouldn't.  

Roaring in inhuman fury, Zelgadis swung his sword in an overhand slash, fully intending to split the traitorous prince in half.

His sword practically ablaze with magical energy, Christopher deftly blocked the chimera's blow.  He smiled wickedly and said, "Weak."

Zelgadis's burning cloak whipped through the air as he spun, bringing his blade around at chest level.  This strike was also easily blocked.  For some reason, his opponent seemed remarkably fast.  On top of that, his sword felt heavy in his hand.  Something was terribly wrong.

Wearing a knowing smile, Christopher slashed at Zelgadis faster than the chimera could have ever expected.  His face appeared to be blue in the light of the sword.  Knocking away another of the chimera's clumsy strikes, the prince quickly slashed him across the chest.

Instead of being turned aside like almost any other weapon, the sword slid easily through Zelgadis's enchanted flesh, wounding him deeply.  For the first time in many years, he bled.  The wound stubbornly refused to close.

"Do you understand now, uncle?" Christopher asked, casually twirling the sword as he advanced.  "Your strength, your speed, nothing can save you.  Mother's sword has seen to that."  He held the blade up at eye level and chuckled.  "Your body's very nature is magical.  And seeing as the sword consumes magic, well…"

Zelgadis smiled in spite of himself.  "That's very clever Christopher."  He clutched at the seeping wound in his chest and smirked.  "I'm sure that your parents would be proud."  He gave ground to Christopher as he spoke.  He needed room to maneuver, and a narrow walkway wasn't going to cut it.  

Christopher's smile faded instantly and he hissed, "Don't you dare talk to me about them!"  He drew his hand back and formed a fireball within it.  "Die uncle!  Fireball!"  He flung the orb at the weakened Zelgadis, but it dissipated before moving two feet.  "What the hell?" he muttered, looking at his hand.

Unnoticed, the sword glowed brighter for a moment, absorbing the chaos energies of Christopher's spell.

Zelgadis saw his chance and bolted for the staircase.  He'd like to get down to the courtyard where he could beat Christopher with his superior skill, but the stairs only lead up.  Up into a watchtower that rose a hundred feet above the palace.  It would have to do.  He turned to see the prince sprinting after him.  To his horror and fury, Christopher stepped on Emily's body as he passed.  Didn't he care about anything anymore?

Quashing the rage, Zelgadis ran up the staircase as fast as his wounded body would allow.  If he turned to fight Christopher now, there was no way that he would win.  Even going to the top of the tower was probably only delaying the inevitable.  Still, living another few moments was preferable to dying immediately, so he ran.

The prince caught up to Zelgadis just as he reached the door leading out onto the battlement.  Bellowing like an animal, he tackled the chimera from behind, flinging them both through the doorway and out onto the narrow platform.  He struck Zelgadis on the back of the head with the hilt of his sword, opening an angry wound.

Zelgadis squirmed around under the prince and brought his fist up in a vicious hook to the young man's jaw.  

Jagged knuckles ripped away part of his cheek, only managing to further infuriate Christopher.  Straddling Zelgadis's body, he brought the hilt of the sword down again, this time splitting the chimera's forehead.  Dark blood flew and he laughed maniacally.

Tossing his sword aside, Zelgadis reached up and grabbed the front of Christopher's cloak.  He pulled him down, thrusting his own head upwards at the same time.  The impact sent a bolt of agony through his skull, but it had the desired effect.

Christopher stood and staggered back, looking quite dazed.  He reached the edge of the platform and just for a moment, teetered on the edge of nothingness.  Then he returned to his senses and dropped to one knee to steady himself.  "Nice… one… uncle…" he whispered between gasps for air.

Zelgadis scowled and slowly climbed to his feet.  His sword.  Where had his sword gone?  He looked up to see it under Christopher's foot.

Grinning, the prince knelt and picked it up.  I don't think… that you'll be needing this… anymore, uncle."  He flung the sword over the edge of the platform.  

Zelgadis thought that he heard it shatter against the stones a hundred feet below.  It was over then.  Without a sword, there was no way that he could win.  His magic was useless and…  "Magic," he whispered to himself, thoughtfully eyeing Emily's glowing sword.  He staggered backwards as a sudden wave of dizziness overcame him and now it was his turn to stand on the edge of death.

"Goodbye uncle," Christopher said with a smile.  Expecting his foe to recoil and fall to his death, he charged Zelgadis with his sword raised over his head.  

"Goodbye Christopher," Zelgadis replied.  He did the unexpected and stepped forward into Christopher's blow, allowing the sword bite into his shoulder instead of his head.  Ignoring the pain, he pivoted on his heel and using Christopher's own momentum against him, flung the prince over the edge of the wall.

Christopher briefly struggled to comprehend what had happened.  He was flying.  No, he realized a moment later.  He was falling, but that could be easily remedied.  "Ray Wing!" he said, summoning the magic that would free him from gravity's hold.  He continued to fall.  He glanced over at the glowing sword he still clutched in his hand.  "No!" he shrieked, finally realizing what had happened.

Zelgadis tried to block out the sound of Amelia's grandson striking the ground far below as he lay on the floor, exhausted.  In a way, it felt as if he had betrayed his friends.  He had killed the last of Lina and Amelia's descendants and he hated himself for it.  "Not the last," he mused.  The mysterious woman's words came back to him.

"There's still one left.  You have to save her, Zel.  I can't do it."

Groaning in pain, Zelgadis climbed to his feet.  Now that he was out from under that accursed sword's influence, he felt his strength and speed return.  His wounds quickly began to close and after a moment, he was whole once again.  Now there was work to do.

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A child's cries could be heard in the playroom.  Everyone in the room had been killed, save Lily.  Michael had hidden her well and she had escaped the fate of her family.  The flames that threatened to consume the palace licked at the edge of Michael's cloak, threatening to devour it and the child.

A blast of wind fanned the flames briefly and Zelgadis was suddenly standing over the precious bundle in the corner.  He smiled tiredly as he bent down to scoop Lily up in his arms.  "Ray Wing," he whispered, creating a pocket of fresh air around himself and the young princess.

For a brief moment, Lily looked up at the chimera questioningly.  Then a smile lit up her face and she laughed happily.

Zelgadis returned Lily's smile as he carried her through the flames.  "Think I'm funny looking do you?" he asked.  The child gurgled happily in response, eliciting a laugh from the chimera.  

Lily was a beautiful child and Zelgadis eagerly took in her appearance.  She had Amelia's beautiful blue eyes and dark hair, Lina's cocky smile, and Gourry's honest and loving expression.  Of course, he was reading into it too much.  She was unique, special in her own way.  

Zelgadis shook his head sadly.  Gone.  Everyone that he had loved had been snatched away.  But, despite all the dark happenings of the day, there was still hope.  There was always hope, he realized.  The child in his arms was proof of that.  

Comforted by that thought, Zelgadis walked through the ruins of the palace with his young companion.  He'd seen so much in his long life.  The death of his friends, the fall of a kingdom he'd once thought eternal, the rebirth of his hope.  So much he had seen.  And still, there was so much left to see.  Eternity stretched out before him, but instead of a world of loneliness, he saw opportunity.  A chance to know his friends over and over again through their children.  It would be a good life.  Good enough.

And with that thought, Zelgadis Greywords walked out of the inferno and into legend.

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Next Chapter:  *sniff*  There isn't another chapter!  I will begin working on the final story in the series sooner or later though.

Notes:  Wow, um, I really hope that everyone enjoyed this.  Even if you didn't find the ending to be a happy one, I hope that you at least found it satisfying.  

I hated the fact that Emily had to die.  I loved Emily and her entire family and it was extremely difficult to write their deaths.  Despite the fact that this was Zelgadis's story and he overshadowed the other characters, I have pages of information that I've written out for each of them.  A question.  Would anyone be interested in reading Christopher and Gourry's story?  I only ask because the original Slayers cast would have a very minor role in it and I wonder if my original characters are interesting enough to carry a story on their own.

I know that this isn't one of the readers' favorite stories, but quite honestly, it's mine.  Despite the fact that it was upsetting at times (especially for me), I've never enjoyed writing another story as much as I've enjoyed this one.  Thank you all so very much for taking the time to read it.

Reviewer Response:

Miss Gabriev, Zel didn't think that Gourry was Gourry.  Hmm, I'm starting to second-guess myself with the giving the same names to different characters thing.  As for the sequel, it's already a work in progress.

Raven, thanks for being there through the entire story, even after I took that, um, kinda long break from it.  I hope you liked the ending.  Not really happy, but good enough I hope.

Pogo, it's your own fault you know.  I didn't twist your arm to get you to read the story.  Okay, I kinda did, but that's beside the point.  Thanks for the comments on the characters.  It meant a lot to me.

Thank you again for reading, everyone!


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